Peter Paillou, Portrait of a Girl, 1811

Chicago:

Maggie Keenan, “Peter Paillou, Portrait of a Girl, 1811,” 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: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024), https://doi.org/10.37764/8322.5.1454.

MLA:

Keenan, Maggie. “Peter Paillou, Portrait of a Girl, 1811,” 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: 10.37764/8322.5.1454

See the artist’s biography in volume 4.

Although the identities of this sitter and its counterpart (Fig. 1, F58-60/97) remain unknown, their nearly identical framing in red leather cases with silk linings suggests a possible connection. A recently discovered 1955 sales catalogue, annotated probably by Mr. or Mrs. Starr, lists “A miniature of a young girl by Peter Paillou, signed and dated 1811,” and “another of her brother . . . signed and dated 1808, fitted cases.”¹ Thus, the familial connection between these sitters, as siblings, has been restored.

Unlike the portraits of young children that have remained together in the Nelson-Atkins collection, such as the portraits of Miss and Master Tyers and the portraits of Miss and Master Grosvenor, Paillou depicts two young adults of marrying age.² In the 1811 portrait, the girl wears a simple white empire-waist dress constructed from dotted Swiss fabric, the white pigment raised above the painted surface. Her unadorned appearance continues in her lack of jewelry and her short, parted hair that lays smooth against her head. Although the siblings share a similar hair color, her eyes are a green-blue hue, while her brother’s blue eyes match the dramatic indigo-colored background characteristic of Paillou’s work.

Both sitters have long noses and slight shadows under their eyes. The man’s skin is flushed, his lips slightly parted, and he wears a charcoal-colored coat with shiny buttons. His attire is formal, including a cravat pleated accordion-style and a decorative gold stickpin partially concealed by the waistcoat. Their compositions balance each other, with the young woman’s pallor heightened in a white dress and the young man’s reddened appearance dramatized by his dark coat. These contrasting color palettes are further reflected in her lighter, peachy, hatched background and his dark stormy-sky backdrop.

The portraits’ leather-bound, locket-like cases have the ability to open and close to reveal and conceal the portraits hidden within. This also offers a protective quality, much like the safeguarding nature of a caring brother toward his younger sister. A third portrait by Paillou in a matching red leather case sold at auction in 1995, depicting a man identified as James Edington.³ Paillou painted Edington in 1814, three years after the Nelson-Atkins Portrait of a Girl, mimicking the three-year gap between these 1808 and 1811 portraits.⁴ Although Paillou was an English artist, he spent time working in Glasgow, Scotland, from 1800 until his death in 1834. While “Edington” is a common Scottish name, if this 1814 work depicts James Edington (1786–1851) of Fife, Scotland, then the present portraits could depict Edington’s sister and brother, Charity Grace (b. 1795) and either John (1784–1861) or William (1783–1854).⁵ Charity would have been around sixteen years old in 1811, and John or William would have been between twenty-four and twenty-five in 1808, both of which align with the sitters’ appearance in these charming portraits.

Notes

1. The full description reads, “A miniature of a young girl by Peter Paillou, signed and dated 1811, full face, fair short hair, in Empire white dress; and another of her brother in white vest and dark grey coat, 2 7/8 in., signed and dated 1808, fitted cases.” Catalogue of Fine Portrait Miniatures, Property of L. C. Wallach, Esq., Sotheby’s, London, May 2, 1955, lot 51. The lot number is heavily annotated, with a slash next to the lot number, a circled lot number, and the sale price “£28” written in.

2. William Edington married on December 9, 1807, shortly before this 1808 Portrait of a Man; “William Edingdon [sic], marriage date 9 Dec. 1807,” England, Marriages, 1538–1973, FHL film no. 1278741, ref. 1454, item 3, p. 97, digitized on Ancestry.com. A “John Eddington” also married Isabel Low in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 25, 1808; Scotland, Marriages, 1561–1910, FHL film no. 1066690, digitized on Ancestry.com.

3. Peter Paillou, Portrait of James Edington Esq, 1814, oil on paper, red leather hinged case, 2 x 3 in. (5.1 x 7.6 cm), sold at Eldred’s, East Dennis, MA, November 17, 1995, lot 178, https://www.artnet.com/artists/peter-paillou/portrait-of-james-edington-EQGLGbz3StASx8mWZHO7mw2. While it is common to see red leather cases as boxes for portrait miniatures, it is rare to see miniatures framed within the case.

4. The lot following the Paillou siblings in their 1955 sale lists “a miniature of a young man by Peter Paillou, signed and dated 1817, nearly full face, fresh complexion, dark hair, perhaps a member of the same family as in the preceding lot, 2 7/5 in.” This 1817 miniature has yet to be located, but a similar case may have suggested the familial relation, since the brother and sister have light, not dark, hair.

5. According to Colin Perry family tree, “Urney Park and Beyond,” digitized on Ancestrylibrary.com.

Probably Lewis Charles Wallach (1871–1964), The Grange, Northington, Hampshire, by May 2, 1955 [1];

Purchased from his sale, Fine Portrait Miniatures, Sotheby and Co., London, May 2, 1955, lot 51, as A Miniature of a Young Girl, by Leggatt Brothers, London, probably on behalf of Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, 1955–1958 [2];

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

Notes

[1] In the 1955 sales catalogue, “The Property of L. C. Wallach, Esq. The Grange, Northington, Hants,” is listed for lots 46-94.

[2] This sales catalogue is located at The University of Missouri–Kansas City’s Miller Nichols Library and is likely annotated by Mr. or Mrs. Starr with a slash next to the lot, a circled lot number, and “£28.” According to an attached price list, Leggatt purchased lot 51 for £28.

Described in the catalogue as “A miniature of a young girl by Peter Paillou, signed and dated 1811, full face, fair short hair, in Empire white dress; and another of her brother in white vest and dark grey coat, 2 7/8 in., signed and dated 1808, fitted cases.”

See related lot 52: “A miniature of a young man by Peter Paillou, signed and dated 1817, nearly full face, fresh complexion, dark hair, perhaps a member of the same family as in the preceding lot, 2 7/5 in.; and another of a Young Girl in low-cut white dress of Empire style, 2 1/2 in. These works by Paillou would certainly appear to be during his residence in Glasgow.”

Archival research has shown that Leggatt Brothers served as purchasing agents for the Starrs.

Possibly Peter Paillou, Portrait of James Edington, 1814, oil on paper, red leather hinged case, 2 x 3 in. (5.1 x 7.6 cm), sold at Eldred’s, East Dennis, MA, November 17, 1995, lot 178.

Catalogue of Fine Portrait Miniatures (London: Sotheby’s, May 2, 1955), lot 51, as A miniature of a young girl by Peter Paillou, signed and dated 1811, full face, fair short hair, in Empire white dress; and another of her brother in white vest and dark grey coat, 2 7/8 in., signed and dated 1808, fitted cases.

Ross E. Taggart, The Starr Collection of Miniatures in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, 1971), no. 199, p. 67, (repro.), as Unknown Young Girl.