Whittle, Elias (SCC Newsletter January 2007)

Mr E. Whittle fl. c. 1830-1850

A Note on a Minor Artist with some Charm

Above is a work by Mr. Whittle that has recently come to light. It is signed and dated 1843. It is especially interesting as it would appear to be the equivalent to "a pattern book". As Whittle was an itinerant artist it is possible that he took this with him on his travels — to hang in his temporary studio so that clients could see the range of his work. Also, it is possible he had a similar work showing his bust-length silhouettes. Note the basket of flowers on the 'ground' in the conversation piece at the top — Mrs. McK. suggests that this is almost a trade mark of Whittle's work.

His background

Nothing is known about his family or his living circumstances. He appears to have been a travelling artist, who spent sometime in the United States in 1840. Also, it is known that he visited London and Duns near Berwick. He was a water-colourist as well as a 'cutter' of profiles. He exhibited at the "New Water-colour Society in 1834. He cut bust-lengths, full-lengths and conversation pieces.

His Work

Without a label or signature it would be difficult to attribute his work, as it is not very dissimilar to that of many other artists working at this time. However, there are one or two 'pointers' that might help to recognise his work. He used black paper, which sometimes shows a 'bloom’. His figures are always highlighted in gold showing neat clothing detail — which can be quite delicate at times especially when showing the material of women's dresses and bonnets. This gilding is often shown with minute golden dots. His boys were usually shown with large white collars, which he achieved by cutting away the black paper. Mrs. McK. took the view that he was particularly good at depicting children — these were often shown in a row each holding either a toy, some flowers or a whip. Below are two works showing this form (both in Mrs. McK. page 348 illus. 626 & 627) Note the basket of flowers or the left — also the shadows by the children's feet — these are quite roughly painted, but may be an attribution tool.

Whittle Page 10

On the right is a photograph of a young boy holding a whip. He is from the Andrew's Collection at Stoner House. It is signed on the obverse E. Whittle 1847". Note the rather cursory water-colour foreground and background — this is quite typical of Whittle's single figure compositions. I have a record of a full-length man with a landscape backgound in a purplish colour. Whittle's full-length figures tended to be rather small ie about 7.5 inches in height. These were usually housed in maple frames with a gilded inset.

His bust-length work

Mrs. McK. states that most of Whittle's bust-lengths were cut without a bust-line termination. However, from the above examples it would not appear to be the case. I think it is possible that some frames were too small so the bust-line was obscured. On the other hand it is possible that Whittle varied his style. Those with bust-lines have a slightly concave sloping line. Above on the left is John Randolph — he is illustrated in Mrs. McK. on page 348 illus. 624. The whitish bit on his head is gilding with a bloom.! In the centre is a young boy —also illustrated in Mrs. McK. on page 348 illus. 625. His white collar is well shown. On the right is a lady from my Collection wearing a babet cap. Her gilding is quite fine and can be seen in this photograph. Whittle excelled at depicting women in babet caps and wearing their hair in apollo knots — both were in fashion at the time.

His Labels

Mrs. McK. records two labels one of which is illustrated on the left above.This is Label No. l. Both are stencils and both have the same wording ie "Mr. E. Whittle Artist". Label No. 2 is in gothic lettering. However, there is an unrecorded label, which is illustrated above on the right. I will call this Label No. 3. I am afraid that it is difficult from the photocopy to see the wording, which is "Cut with scissors by E. Whittle".

My references for this article have been Mrs. McK's Book and Mrs. Jackson's Dictionary. It is interesting, but not surprising that Arthur Mayne and John Woodiwiss do not mention the Artist at all. Neither does Mrs. P. Hickman in any of her publications.