Vigne, Henry George (McKechnie Section 2)

Not mentioned by previous writers on silhouettes but recorded as a miniaturist by Long and Foskett. According to the former, Vigne exhibited two miniatures at the Royal Academy, one in 1785 and another in 1787, from an address at 'Mr. Vigne's, Watchmaker, 2, Charing Cross' (shown below to have been the address of the profilist). Foskett suggests that he may have been the Henry Vigne who entered the Royal Academy Schools on 8 November 1782, aged seventeen on 'Jan 15 Last'. He was therefore born in 1765. Since the only authenticated profiles by him are dated 1781 and 1782, I believe that he painted the four known examples when he was only fifteen and sixteen years old, and painted no more silhouettes after entering the Schools. A minor miniaturist, Vigne was evidently able enough to achieve the inclusion of his work in exhibitions at the Royal Academy, and ceased to paint silhouettes after he had begun to win some recognition as a miniaturist.

Kent's London Directory states that one James Vigne and his family were living in 1789 at 2 Charing Cross. This address is of interest to collectors of silhouettes, for, in 1791, the numbering of the houses changed, and this house became 2 Strand, later for many years the home of John Field, who died there. In this directory reference, James Vigne is described as a watchmaker.

There is a reference in the notes of F. and G. B. Buckley (Victoria and Albert Museum, typescript collection) to an excerpt from The World (24 January 1788), which reads as follows: 'Mr. Henry George Vigne, miniature painter, died last week at his father's house, Charing Cross.' (The relevant issue of this newspaper is in the Burney collection at the British Museum.)

It is thus evident that Henry George Vigne predeceased his father James. It is possible that the family moved to Dublin after the loss of their son, and that it was Henry's sister Marianne whom the painter and miniaturist George Chinnery married in that city on 19 March 1799. Chinnery's wife is known to have been the daughter of a Dublin jeweller. He left her for fourteen years while he lived in India (in Madras and Calcutta), and completely abandoned her and her children in 1825, when he began working in Macao and Canton.

Four profiles by Vigne, the only authenticated examples of which I know, are illustrated in this book. Ail were taken in 1781-82. The sitters are two married couples of the Turquand family. Those of the older couple represent Paul Turquand (1715-1800) and his wife, Mrs Paul Turquand (1719-85); they are illustrated in Chapters Four and Six respectively. The latter profile is signed on the front 'H. Vigne fecit'. Of the same size, and similarly framed, are the profiles of Mr and Mrs James Louis Turquand (presumably the son and daughter-in-law of Mr and Mrs Paul Turquand), illustrated in this Section.

All four examples are well painted in tones of dark grey; some body colour was apparently used. The darkest tone is reserved for the face, and all details of clothing are carefully shown. The oval pieces of card on which the profiles are painted are larger than those used by most painters on paper working c. 1780, measuring 41/4 x 31/4 in. The profiles have no bust-line termination, but continue to the base of the card. The oval frames are of well turned ebonised wood, without the crenellated edge favoured by some other artists. The inner edges of the frames are not gilded.

There are handwritten inscriptions on the reverses of two of the four known silhouettes by Vigne. One is illustrated; the other (on the reverse of the profile of Mrs James Louis Turquand) reads `Heny Vigne delint, Charing Cross, 1782'.

Ills. 105, 168, 941-943

105 168