Kelfe, M. Lane, Mrs

Gender:

Female

Date and place of birth:

Unknown

Date and place of death:

Unknown

Worked:

(fl) 1778-1794

Known places of work:

Bath

Known techniques:

Painted on paper

Known materials:

Paint black

Frames:

Ebonised wood with crenulated inner borders, burnished gilt & oval hammered brass

Signature:

Recorded

Introduction:

Although Kelfe’s work is on display at both the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Bristol Art Gallery, it is very hard to generalise about her work or to pick a particular style as being typical of her. No full-length profiles have been found however, so it is assumed that she only executed bust-length portraits.

Kelfe appears to have been an itinerant profilist, travelling from well-patronised centres of the country in accordance with the Seasons. Both an extant advertisement and a Trade Label state that she had 140 pieces of her work always on display and that these portraits include ‘members of the Nobility and Gentry’. Apart from these details little is known of Kelfe’s life.

Mrs Kelfe’s style seems to change and become more detailed during her working life, as do her method of framing – although this last is probably due to changes in fashionable society. Her earlier work contains almost no detail at all, with hair and decoration portrayed through small painted dots rather than intricate techniques. She later refines this style and executes stippled hair with coils separated by thick black lines. She also added finer detail with a quill. She favoured a bluish-grey colour wash and used gum Arabic and Chinese white to highlight details. Popular today, Mrs Kelfe’s is regarded as very fine examples of the period.