Rought, William

Gender:

Male

Date and place of birth:

1775, Oxford

Date and place of death:

1852, Oxford

Worked:

(fl) 1805-15

Known places of work:

Oxford

Known techniques:

Paint on glass

Known materials:

Paper

Frames:

Turned wood

Signature:

Recorded

Introduction:

William Rought was a man of many artistic and practical talents. During his varied career he produced silhouettes, traded in house painting and wood turning, and worked at the Cornmarket in Oxford. Not an artist all his life, after a few decades illustrating Rought worked primarily as a craftsman from 1833.

Rought grew up in Oxford and would spend his whole life there. Similarly to his father, he held the title of Freeman of Oxford. He married in 1824 and dabbled in various craft trades to a decent level of success. Given Rought’s strength as a craftsman, it is believed that he made wooden frames to house his painted silhouettes. Two trade labels have been associated with Rought’s silhouettes. The first, the larger of the two, reads ‘PROFILES’ and was printed in blue. The second ‘W.ROUGHT/Profilist/Cornmarket, Oxford’ appeared in pale red.

Rought’s style is rather distinct and his work easy to recognise. He typically painted bust-length profiles upon convex glass ovals, with the bust-line painted rather shallow. A series of full-length pieces have been attributed to Rought, but these do not show the same quality found in his bust-length portraits, so cannot be confirmed. Comma-like strokes are used for hair while dress, particularly neck wear and frills, is drawn with precision using thinned pigment. It has been speculated that Rought used a needle to produce transparency, though there is no evidence to support this. Two of Rought’s silhouettes appeared at Bonham’s auction rooms on 24th Nov 1999 and he remains very popular with modern collectors.