Andrews, Samuel

Introduction:

While the quality of SAMUEL ANDREWS' (1767-1807) portrait miniatures can be variable, his distinctive profiles painted 'en grisaille' on ivory are of a consistently high order. All extant profiles were painted in India and the sizable number regularly appearing on the market today suggests Andrews was keenly patronised.

In India his profiles 'en grisaille' would have been regarded as novel and fashionable. Today they stand as a record of East India Company military and civilian administrators, wives, sweethearts, offspring and also incliude, more rarely, several Indian sitters.

All compositions are bust-size, all are of similar dimensions. Bustline terminations vary, and below them Andrews often signed himself 'S. Andrews', sometimes accompanied by a date and location. Sitters are delicately painted in shades of grey or umber. Chinese white highlights attire, while flesh tints are occasionally applied to sitters' cheeks. Backgrounds are painted a deep brown-grey. Works are housed in jewellery settings, papier-mâché, horn or Indian hardwood frames and leather or shagreen travel cases. No trade label is recorded.

While current research has revealed fresh aspects of Andrews' life in India, his history prior to 1791 is a blank page. Often referred to as Irish-born, neither Foskett's DICTIONARY of BRITISH MINIATURE PAINTERS (1972) nor W.G.Strickland's DICTIONARY of IRISH ARTISTS (1913) found records supporting the assumption. Also absent is evidence of formal art school training, appenticeship to an artist, or any newspaper advertising prior to his departure for India.

With 2 inscribed profiles illustrated in her BRITISH SILHOUETTE ARTISTS 1760-1860 (1978), McKechnie theorised Andrews may have worked in Bath ca.1790. However, current investigation indicates both were painted in India.

Respectively inscribed 'John Roberts Esq...of Bath' and 'John Roberts the Younger', research ascertained Roberts Snr (1737-1810) was Chairman and Director of the East India Company. A print of the sitter, originally sketched by George Dance (1741-1825), now housed in the National Portrait Gallery collection, shows Andrews used the print as a template for the profile which is set in its original mahogany frame. Roberts Jnr was John William Roberts (1775-1813). Arriving in Bengal as a 16-year-old East India Company 'writer' in 1790, his features as captured by Andrews, suggest Roberts Jnr was in his early 20s when he sat for his profile.

By the 1790s the East India Company was the pre-eminent body of world trade, with its territories consolidated into the 'Presidencies' of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. All were nominally independent but answerable to a Governor-General in the Company's Calcutta headquarters.

It is said Andrews applied, seemingly unsuccessfully, to the Company Court of Directors in London to work in Bengal in 1791. The impediment was likely a lack of sponsors; and as nobody embarked for or remained in Company India without sanction, the issue, whatever its nature, was swiftly resolved, as the BENGAL CALENDAR records 'S. Andrews Miniature Painter' was resident in Madras by year's end.

Though virtually half of all Britons voyaging to India died there within 2 years, with luck and patronage artists of talent could prosper, as distance and the high chance of death made miniature portraits for clients' loved ones potent keepsakes. Between 1777 and 1807 over 20 artists of variable merit worked in the Company Presidencies. The most gifted of all was John Smart (1741-1811). For a decade from 1785, Smart worked successfully in India. Andrews' own portrait miniatures, often dated and initialled 'S.A.', evidence an adroit development towards a style and technique heavily influenced by Smart, who possibly tutored him, as it's recorded Andrews occupied Smart's abode after the latter sailed from Madras to England in April 1795.

Three months later, on the 5th of July 1795, Andrews married 16-year-old Jeanetta Christina Eilbracht in Pullicat. Born in October 1778, she was a daughter of Jacob Casperz Eilbracht (1738-1804), Governor of the Dutch East India Company, possession of 'DUTCH COROMANDEL' . All citations indicate Jeanetta died the year she wed. There is no evidence Andrews remarried.

Sixty miles north of Madras, Pullicat was the capital of the Dutch Territory, and Andrews must have already been acquainted with his bride's family, as a portrait miniature of her sister Antonia Maria (1775-1804) initialled 'S.A.' and dated 1793, is indexed in the Institute Collection, Netherlands, as is the miniature of another sibling, Johanna Elizabeth Bernadina (1777-N/K), initialled and dated 1795. Andrews' own self-portrait, painted around this time, sold at Bonhams (London) 21st of May 2008. He records himself with powdered pigtailed hair and side whiskers, a gently penetrating dark-eyed gaze, and an air of youthful whimsicality.

As the location and dates covering the period are recorded on his 'en grisaille' profiles, it appears from 1798 until at least 1804, Andrews worked in Calcutta. Among his high-profile clients were the Governor-General Richard Wellesley Lord Mornington (1760-1842) and his brothers Arthur, the future Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) and Henry (1773-1847), private secretary to his brother Richard.

Samuel Andrews died at Patna, a major commercial hub on the River Ganges. His memorial in the town's Sabzibagh Cemetery reads: 'Here rest the remains of Samuel Andrews Esqr, who died at Patna September the 21st 1807, aged 40. The hand of friendship records an event it deplores'.

Revised 2 August 2024 (Brian Wellings)