Thomas Richmond, Portrait of a Man, ca. 1810

Chicago:

Maggie Keenan, “Thomas Richmond, Portrait of a Man, ca. 1810,” catalogue entry in Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan, The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, vol. 3, ed. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024), https://doi.org/10.37764/8322.5.1482.

MLA:

Keenan, Maggie. “Thomas Richmond, Portrait of a Man, ca. 1810,” catalogue entry. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan. The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, edited by Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, vol. 3, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024. doi: 10.37764/8322.5.1482.

See the artist’s biography in volume 4.

Set in an enameled bezel, this portrait of a man exemplifies the characteristics of Thomas Richmond’s work in its tight and perfectly structured brushstrokes. What this approach lacks in naturalism it gains in texture, notably in the background and the top of the sitter’s hairline, which resembles a ghostly veil of white lines. The style and technique align with Richmond’s high style: almond-shaped oversized eyes and hair patterned with equidistant lines.

The portrait’s case combines an enameled bezel with floral motifs, colored glass over foil, a braided hair back, and the faint shadow of a cursive “CL” monogram.¹ Additionally, a calling card for London jeweler Stephen Twycross (1746–1819) was found inside the case.² It was common for jewelers to learn the craft of hair art, and Twycross’s designs included themes of life, death, and immortality.³ He worked at the address on the card—3 Pemberton Row, Gough Square—from 1783 to 1793, significantly earlier than the date of this miniature, which suggests that Richmond likely used Twycross’s business card as scrap to fill the case, which was probably reassembled from the work of various other jewelers.

Although undated, this portrait can be placed around 1810, when Richmond was an established miniaturist working at 42 Half Moon Street in London. The present sitter has idealized features and a pleasant expression, giving him an approachable appearance. Arched eyebrows; a high, smooth forehead; and large, rounded eyes add to this effect. The sitter wears simple Regency attire: a slate-gray, high-collared coat over a white muslin shirt with ruffles. The influence of Richmond’s second cousin, George Engleheart (1750–1829), is apparent in the hint of blue shadows around the sitter’s mouth and enlarged eyes, as well as the hatched shading seen in the coat and cravat. Richmond employed techniques learned in Engleheart’s studio while also establishing his own style and method in this portrait miniature.

Notes

1. According to a 2018 conversation with conservator Carol Aiken, it is likely that the case has reassembled parts, NAMA curatorial files.

2. “[Step]hen Twycro[ss] / Jeweller, / to acquaint his Friends and Customers, / Pemberton-Row, Gough-Square, / [St]reet, near the New Church in the / Continuance of their Favours.” See Martha Gandy Fales, “Federal Bostonians and their London Jeweler, Stephen Twycross,” The Magazine Antiques 131 (March 1987): 642–49. Around 1795, Twycross moved to 9 Newcastle Street, Strand, London. His company was renamed S. Twycross & Son in 1808 and Twycross & Davis in 1817. Twycross’s portrait miniatures were in so much demand that his clients also included prominent families of Boston and Maine. See Stephen Twycross, Set of Jewelry, ca. 1796, Historic New England, 1953.42A–E; and Stephen Twycross, Bracelet Clasp (one of a pair), ca. 1800, Worcester Art Museum, 1907.510.2.

3. Fales, “Federal Bostonians and their London Jeweler, Stephen Twycross,” 642–49.

Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, by 1958;

Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1958.

Ross E. Taggart, The Starr Collection of Miniatures in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, 1971), no. 196, p. 66, (repro.), as attributed to Thomas Richmond, Unknown Man.