Vigne, Henry George
Gender:
Male
Date and place of birth:
bapt. 01.02.1765, 2 Charing Cross, London
Date and place of death:
bur. 13,01.1788, St.Martins-in-the-Fields, London
Worked:
(fl) presumed 1781-1782
Known places of work:
2 Charing Cross, London
Known techniques:
Painted on card
Known materials:
Card
Frames:
Oval ebonised wood
Signature:
Recorded
Introduction:
The son of clock and watchmaker James Vigne, HENRY GEORGE VIGNE (1765-1788) is known for 4 distinctive well-executed profiles, illustrated in McKechnie's British Silhouette Artists and Their Work 1760-1860. The works, painted on card in tones of dark grey, are housed in frames of ebonised wood. Signed on the reverse and dated 1781 and 1782, the profiles would have been painted when Vigne was 15 and 16 years old, as it is known he entered the Royal Academy Schools in November 1782, aged 17. It is unlikely he painted profiles after that time.
Able enough to have portrait miniatures accepted in Royal Academy exhibitions, his career was cut short by his early death, aged 23. Coincidentally, the house where Vigne died, 2 Charing Cross, later became 2 Strand, where, many years later, the highly accomplished profilist John Field (1772-1848) also lived and died.
Revised 3 July 2022 (Brian Wellings)
Additional research about Henry George Vigne:
Source: McKechnie (Author of, British Silhouette Artists and their Work 1760-1860)
Vigne, Henry George (McKechnie Section 2)