HENRY SPICER (1743-1804)
Portrait enamel of an Infantry Officer, facing right in scarlet coat with yellow facings and lapels bearing silver lace loops, frilled cravat, powdered hair en queue; circa 1785
Enamel on metal
Gold fausse-montre frame with bright-cut border, the reverse with plaited hair
Oval, 2½ in. (64 mm.) high
Provenance: Etude Chapelle/Perrin Fromantin, Versailles, 1 June 1972, lot 160; Christie's, London, Important Miniatures including the Walter and Gertrude Rappolt Collection, 14 October 1998, Lot 77; Where bought by the current owner, Private Collection, UK.
Literature: Williams, H., ‘The Enamel in England; a New Form of Portraiture’, an essay in Rutherford, E., Grosvenor, B., ‘Secret Faces: An Exhibition of Unseen Portrait Miniatures from Public and Private Collections’, catalogue for the exhibition held at Philip Mould & Co., 28 May – 14 June 2008, p.87
£3,850
“Unlike works on ivory, Spicer’s enamels have not faded and present a (literal) vivid portrayal of the characters of the later eighteenth century.”
Henry Spicer, miniaturist, enamel painter and engraver, was born in Reepham, Norfolk in 1742. He studied under Gervase Spencer and later became the teacher of William Birch (1755-1834), an artist who is believed to have introduced the practice of enamel portraiture to America. He was a member of the Incorporated Society of Artists of Great Britain and was appointed secretary in 1773.
In 1770 he was elected a member of the Society of Antiquaries and exhibited for the first time at the Royal Academy in 1774. He later relocated to Dublin where he lived for several years, returning to London in 1782. A true testament to Spicer’s success was his acquisition of the title ‘Official Painter in Enamel’ to the Prince of Wales in 1789.
Spicer was well-connected in the art world, with artists such as George Stubbs and Ozias Humphry included within his circle. In fact, after Spicer’s death in 1804, Humphry would go on to lodge with Spicer’s widow until his own death in 1810.
The current portrait of an officer dates to circa 1785, showing Spicer’s skill in emulating artists such as Richard Cosway who were painting the wealthy, fashionable sector in watercolour miniatures at this date. Unlike Cosway’s works on ivory, Spicer’s enamels have not faded and present a (literal) vivid portrayal of the characters of the later eighteenth century.