Dixon, John (SCC Newsletter April 2001)

John DIXON. fl.1812-1841

A Bath Artist.

I bought the above silhouette some years ago - it was part of a job lot and was the best of the bunch! I was not able to attribute it at the time-so simply reframed it in a more appropriate frame and hung it on the wall. I noted it was well and competently painted -likely to be by a professional artist.

Lot 10 at Bonhams Knightsbridge Sale on 31st. October, 2000 consisted of four silhouettes (2 men & 2 women) in one modern gilded frame attributed to John Dixon. I immediately recognised one of the women as being almost identical to the lady above - it could almost have been the same sitter! The attribution for this Lot had been made by Mrs. McKechnie in 1974 - so the problem was solved.

John Dixon was first recorded as a silhouette artist by Mrs. N. Jackson in her History & Dictionary first published in 1938. (p. 95) Mrs. Jackson recorded two artists named Dixon (J. & M.) and queried whether they were a husband and wife partnership. However, it has now been accepted from available records that the two were one and the same. Daphne Foskett has an entry on John

Dixon as a miniaturist in her book "Miniatures - Dictionary & Guide" (p. 529) The entry is very short but records that he lived at 7, Northumberland Place, Bath in 1819-1822. As usual it was left to Mrs. McKechnie to undertake the definitive research and to firmly establish his place as a silhouette artist. (p. 392-393)

J. Dixon cont’d.

There is no background information available on Mr. Dixon's family. Mrs. McK. was able to establish from the Victoria Art Gallery (Bath) records that he worked at a number of addresses in the town between 1812 & 1841. These included 21, St. James' Parade (1812-13), 7, Northumberland Place (-1826) and 14, Pulteney Bridge (1841). Mrs. McK. takes the view that he probably only painted silhouettes when miniature work was not earning him enough money! She established that he was William Hamlet the Younger's art master at some point but most information about his work has been obtained from his label - which I have not seen.

On his label he offered a variety of work. Top of the list were miniatures at 7 guineas. This seems a high price but Mrs. McK takes the view that these were probably full face (possibly ¾ in length) and on ivory. He painted coloured profiles on ivory as well as en grisaille for £1. 11. 6d. Silhouettes were offered in 3 varieties - Black Shades at 1s. Black Shaded Profiles at 2s. 6d. and Bronze Profiles at 5s. In this article I am illustrating the first two only. I have not seen any bronzed work that I could attribute to Mr. Dixon. Apparently this work was known to Mrs. N. Jackson, John Woodiwiss and Arthur Mayne. Mrs. Jackson & Mr. Mayne described the bronzing as being slight and used sparingly. Whereas Mr. Woodiwiss described it as carefully applied and "highly artistic"! I am not clear if all or any of these writers had actually seen examples - especially as both Mrs. Jackson & Mr. Mayne recorded Mr. Dixon as a cutter who over painted his work! We shall have to wait for a labelled example to come to light. I think it is unlikely that his bronzing would have been 'slight' in view of his ability to paint 'miniatures.

I will now look in some detail at the 4 silhouettes bought at Bonhams - in the hope that you will all be able to recognise a work by John Dixon in the future! As mentioned Mrs. McK. saw these 4 works in 1974 - a few years before the publication of her Book. This fact was recorded on the back of the frame by the then owner. In 1969 the works had been removed from their original individual frames (papier mache) as these were said to be in a bad condition. (always a mistake in my view!) The silhouettes have now been removed from the multiple frame and are awaiting suitable individual frames! The 'sitters' are said to be members of the Richmond family, who were related to the Engleheart family (? whether connected with the famous miniaturist of that name) - several members of the family were recorded as having artistic skills.

I have photocopied below the three works by Mr. Dixon illustrated in Mrs. Mck's Book. All are painted on card with detail in chinese white & gum arabic. All are signed in a line of shading below the bust-line. Note the shape of the man's bust-line.

Mr. Dixon cont’d.

The bonnetted lady on the left above. Size - she is just under 2½ ins. in height. She has been photographed somewhat larger than life to show as much detail as possible. As you will see she is almost identical to the lady on the first page of this article - so one description will suffice! On close examination there are some minute differences - but I am not entirely sure that there is much difference in the face profiles. I do not know what conclusion to draw - did Mr. Dixon have a standard format for bonnetted women of a certain age? She is painted in a black base colour - details of her bonnet & dress outside the main body are painted in thinned watercolour. On the main body details of her bonnet, dress & hair have been painted in chinese white mixed with gum arabic. This shows the gauzy texture of her collar very well. As a result there is a sheen all over the silhouette with the exception of her face & neck. Her bust-line goes down to her high waist-line - a scalloped line has been used effectively to convey the frilled top of her dress. There is a thin grey line under the centre of the bust-line. She has a 2 hair eyelash - which can be clearly seen.

The young woman on the right above. Size - just under 2¼ ins in height. She is also photographed larger than life. She is an example of a black shade - she is painted in plain black body colour with no highlights. Details of hair outside the main body have been painted in thinned watercolour. She has a thin grey line under the bust-line and her eyelash has two hairs. The eyelash may be Mr. Dixon's hall-mark and may be unique to his work.

Mr. Dixon cont’d.

The gent on the left above. Size - just under 2¼ ins. in height. Photographed larger than life. His base colour is black - thinned watercolour has been used to paint his stock and detail of hair outside the main body. Gum arabic mixed with chinese white has been used to show his ear & hair style. Chinese white has been used to show shading on his jacket. Gum arabic mixed with black has been used to outline his jacket collar & to provide a line at his base. He has the customary grey line at the bust-line plus the two hair eyelash. He is well painted. Strange to relate I have another almost identical gent in a scrapbook - unfortunately he has been so cut-down that he could not be framed with any satisfaction. However, he raises similar queries to those raised by the identical bonnetted ladies.

The gent on the right above. Size 2¾ ins. in height - again larger than life. Although this was one of the quartet seen by Mrs. McK. I am certain that it is not by Mr. Dixon. It is equally well painted but in a different style. The bust-line termination is quite different - there is no grey line beneath it. Gum arabic has only been used on the jacket & stock and not on the head. The two hair eyelash is missing. I cannot attribute the work any - ideas?

On the whole Mr. Dixon's work is attractive and well painted. It is likely that his silhouette work was not prolific as he had other strings to his bow - i.e. miniatures. On the right is a photocopy of his signature. If this was used it was put in the grey line beneath the bust-line. Do let me know if any of you have a Dixon.