Dixon, John (McKechnie Section 6)

See Section Two for main entry

Among the types of work offered by Dixon on his trade label the following four fall within the scope of this Section: 'Miniature from 7 guineas/Miniature on card £1. 1s./Coloured on ivory £1. 11s. 6d./Cameo Profile on ivory £1. 11s. 6d.' The term 'Coloured on ivory' presumably refers to profiles, while the seven-guinea miniatures would have been painted in full or three-quarter face. Foskett lists Dixon, but does not illustrate his work. In the Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, there is one miniature of an unknown man, shown full face, painted on ivory, signed J. Dixon, 21, St James' Parade' on the reverse and dated 1812.

In the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery there are two good unsigned en grisaille pieces, one of which is illustrated in Chapter Seven. These I think are likely to be either by Dixon or by his pupil William Hamlet the younger (q.v.). Several artists who were working in Bath during the early 1800s produced examples of this type of work.

Dixon often signed his silhouettes in a shadow line beneath the bust. Since artists often included a back-line on en grisaille pieces, Dixon may have done so.

Ill. 197