Archibald and Alexander Robertson settled in New York while Andrew studied under Nasmyth and Raeburn, attending the Royal Academy Schools and taught drawing, miniature painting and portraiture. He later moved to London where he resided permanently. Goskett, p.
examples of his work have been found however. Another well- known artist who produced miniature work was John Brown (1749-1787). These artists were later succeeded by Andrew Stewart (1773-1846), Alexander Gallaway (fl. c. 1794-1812), and William Douglas (1780-1832) at the turn of the century.
A British school of miniaturists began to evolve in the 1730s, taking up its position again after the Continental ‘limners’ that had dominated the market earlier in the century.16 It seems little schooling was available to Scottish miniaturists until the 1750s. James Ferguson had already moved to London by 1746,17 later joined by John Donaldson around 1760 who exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1775 and 1791. He moved to Newcastle in 1768, painting miniatures in enamel which Skirving also attempted. The only example known is his early portrait of Adam Skirving.18 A portrait of
An Unknown Lady, painted on ivory, was attributed to Skirving by Country Life in 1988.19 It is here re-attributed to John Donaldson due to distinct stylistic similarities to a miniature of a lady, illustrated by Foskett.20 Donaldson rarely signed his works either, and as with many Scottish contemporaries, attribution is difficult with few examples available. (Fig. 18-19)
One artist that Skirving may have encountered was John Bogle, son of an excise officer, who had studied art at the
16 Foskett, D. Miniatures; Djcti.onaiy..and Guide. 1987* p. 197. 17 Ibid., p. 200.
18
Clubbe describes the miniature as painted on enamel. Two Reminiscences of IhQmaS Cadjdfi. 1974, p. 137.
19 'Collectors Questions.' Country Life, January 28th 1988, p. 82.
Foskett, D. Miniatures.: Dictionary and Guide. 1987, colour plate 16F, Unknown lady, watercolour on ivory, p. 203.
Foulis Academy in Glasgow. In 1767 he moved to Edinburgh and set up a practice as a miniaturist, exhibiting at the Society of Artists in 1768-1770. He then settled in London, exhibiting at the Royal Academy from 1772 to 1794, residing in Edinburgh from 1791 until his death in c. 1803. Allan Cunningham describes Bogle as “a little lame man, very poor, very proud and very singular.” His miniatures are often very small in size, painted in neat stippling with soft colours.21
Charles Shirreff is another talented miniaturist who moved to London in 1768 where he attended the Royal Academy Schools a year later. That he was a deaf-mute did not prevent him from making a successful career in London and Bath in the 1770s to mid 1790s. He subsequently worked in Madras and Calcutta, returning to London in 1809, and later retiring to Bath where he died, date unknown. He produced mainly portrait miniatures but also used oil and crayon. Again, few miniatures are signed making attribution uncertain, but definite characteristics are the criss-cross hatching for modelling face and background. Foskett describes his portraits as precise and unflattering.22 The simplicity of his gentlemen portraits, often viewed in half-length, facing three-quarters to the left, are reminiscent of Skirving's images.23
The work of James Nixon can also sometimes be confused with that of Skirving, such as with the reattributed miniature of A Young Girl.24 The miniature was sold by
21 Ibid., pp. 203-4. 22 Ibid., pp. 209-10.
See illustrated examples in Foskett's Miniatures; PistiQnary and Quid?-, 1987, p. 205, plates 47 G and I.
19) Unknown Lady,
by John Donaldson. (Private collection) 18) Portrait of Unknown Lady.
Previously attributed to Skirving. (Private collection)
20) A Young Girl, by James Nixon.
Christie’s and Sotheby’s as a Skirving, but a small capital N is visible in the left hand corner enabling correct identification.25 (Fig. 20) Nixon attended the Royal Academy Schools in 1769 and later exhibited at various important art institutions and societies, the Royal Academy and British Institute among them. He was elected A.R.A. in 1778; appointed limner and miniature painter to the Prince Regent and the Duchess of York. In 1797 he moved back to Edinburgh. His work is described by Foskett as of high quality, reminiscent of Reynolds, painted in bright colours with the sitters faces modelled with cross-strokes, and little detail on the hair. The sitters are usually set against a dark background or foliage.26
4. The Early Miniature Work of Skirving, 1777-1786
Although the majority of Skirving’s contemporary miniaturists had already left Scotland by the 1770s, the artist began producing miniatures while employed at the Customs House. Henry Mackenzie mentions a miniature of Adam Skirving and Lady Eleonor Hume in connection with this period, but these were probably of a later date. However, Bonhams in London may recently have found one of his earliest miniatures. In 1992 three miniatures, a lady and two gentlemen, were attributed to Skirving by their resemblances to the V&A
25 Ibid., p. 208. 26 Ibid., p. 205.
miniature of Unknown lady (A.I.1). Only the lady is illustrated in the sales catalogue but it confirms the connection.27(Fig. 21)
Of the twenty-five years that Skirving apparently produced miniatures, a mere eighteen examples have passed through the London auction rooms.28 For several of these the attribution is uncertain. Despite extensive and systematic research through all of Christie's and Sotheby's sales catalogues of miniatures covering the past thirty years, only a few have come to light. The art dealers consulted in London have not been able to add much to the small list of miniatures, although one had come across less than twenty during the past fifty years in the business.29
The miniatures today attributed to Skirving cover the London years and roughly five years after his return from Rome in 1795. It is not known if Skirving produced anything in this medium after 1800, but he certainly continued for some years after his return to Edinburgh, despite his eye problem which appears to have improved.30 With only three miniatures signed, two of which are dated, there is little material and evidence to substantiate a stylistic progression and attribute dating. Only one other dated miniature is recorded, that of Mrs Gray, exhibited at the South Kensington Museum (V&A) in
1865. No further records of it exists.
During the London years, Skirving depicted pretty women in white dresses with puff sleeves,
27 Bonhams Miniature sale, 6th July 1992, pi. 74.
28 Mrs Bette Viner, art dealer, letter to the author, 16th May 1993.
on
7 Mr Bayne-Powell, art dealer, letter to the author; London 11th June 1993.
on
Foskett states that Skirving abandoned miniature painting on his return to Edinburgh in 1796, incorrect. Miniatures: Dictionary and Guide. 1987, p. 208.
trimmed with lace, bows and waist sash, and often wearing large turbans on their heads, or powdered hair decorated with feathers and strings of pearls. The sitter is set against a cloud and sky background. The early colouring is in pastel shades, painted in neat stippling, clearly visible in the background and hair. Foskett notes that he ‘used a pinkish white flesh colour, and painted his sitters1 hair in soft waves rather than in detailed strands.’31 Of this period there are two similar female portraits that well illustrate this technique (sitters unknown) one belonging to the Victoria and Albert Museum, the other in a private collection.32 Both were probably executed in 1780 and shows the same sitter holding either a black domino mask (Private collection) or a letter in her hand (V&A). (Fig. 22-23)
Apart from Skirving’s miniature work, no records have been found to indicate what else he produced in London. No doubt he drew and sketched as part of his studies but nothing has been recovered so far. That he chose to show Reynolds his miniatures when granted an audience, indicates a a preference for this medium. The work produced in Edinburgh between 1784 to 1786 is largely unknown. However, five works are mentioned in one or two letter from 1785:33 the miniatures of Miss Hume of Ninewells and Adam Skirving; and portraits of John Hume, Mrs Lockhart and her son, John Lockhart. The medium is unspecified.34
31 Ibid. qo
These two are the only examples examined by the author, no others have been traced. 33Skinner does not specify if these are seperate letters, one is dated 22nd August 1785. 34 Skinner, Transactions, 1970, p. 55.
5. Italy, 1787-1794
Financial difficulty was a common enough predicament for many a young artist arriving in Rome without the support system of contacts and patronage. Travelling scholarships were exceptionally few in number, only the Foulis Academy in Glagow and the Royal Academy in London were able to offer limited opportunities.35 The majority had to rely on hoarded savings, an inheritance or, more often, the kindness and generosity of sponsors back home. Lacking these, local patrons and tourism supplemented funds by purchases of the artists’ own works or copies after popular masters. However, despite the constant influx of travellers, employment was not always available in abundance. Andrew Lumsden (1720-1801), Secretary to the exiled Jacobite court in Rome, noted in 1759; “Not one of ten students who come to Rome finds the smallest employment.”36 Training and practice took time and the middle-class traveller generally preferred to commission established artists as an assurance of good quality.
Gavin Hamilton held a secure and distinguished position, patronised by the elite of British nobility: the Duke of Dorset, Lord Egremont, Viscount Palmerston, Lord Shelburne, Lord Spencer, and the Scots Lord Hope and Sir James Grant. With other influential and well-connected antiquarians like Lumsden and Byres, Hamilton proved an invaluable source for commissions. Greatly admired by visitors and artists alike, he
qc
The Foulis Academy awarded travelling scholarships to five students over a brief period, two of these were William Cochrane and Archibald McLachlan. Skinner, B. Scots in Italy. 1966, p. 26.
guided and instructed the art community in contemporary taste and fashion, and many Scots sought his favour and advice, including Anne Forbes, William Cochrane, David Allan, Alexander Nasmyth, Henry Raeburn,37 38 and towards the end, Archibald Skirving. It may have been Hamilton who introduced Skirving to Lord Gardenstone who was to employ his services repeatedly. Lord Elcho and Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo both knew Skirving previously from Edinburgh, but there were possibly others who supported the artist during his long stay. The travelling diaries of Lord Gardenstone and Sir William Forbes are the most detailed records of this period.5*
The mundane life for the artist was not always easy in such a cosmopolitan city. Competition, intrigue and ambition often caused clashes between residents and foreigners. In Rome the largest colonies were the French and German, among expatriate communities from all over the Continent, America and Scandinavia. Language barriers and alien social conventions had to be recognised and overcome by every arrival, and Catherine Read, Scotland’s first professional female artist, who visited Rome in 1751-53, relates how payment was sometimes given in the form of medals and other such ‘useless trinkets’. For, she writes to a friend, “you must know that the Italians despise people so much that are obliged to do anything for money”.39
Throughout the second half of the century, the average number of resident painters in the British art colony
37 Ibid., p. 22. 38 Ibid., p. 8. 39 Ibid., p. 26.
was thirty. Approximately a third of these were usually Scots. Open to all nationalities was the Accademia del Nudo, tutored by the Academicians of St Luke on a monthly rota. British teachers were James Byres, Gavin Hamilton, Robert Mylne, Jacob More and Sir Robert Strange.40 The other public focal point for art studies was the French Academy in the Palazzo Mancini. Allan Ramsay attended the school in the mid 1730s, along with Alexander Clerk and Cunyngham. Highly praised by Ramsay, it had So to speak, dried up the fairest springs of Italy and collected them in such good order that one might say that it is at the French Academy alone that Youth can profit in a study of the fine arts?41 Aside from these two, there were several private schools and studios available. Common to both public and private schools, emphasis was invariably placed on mastering the pencil before the brush, and students sometimes spent years on endless practice in drawing and sketching in pencil and chalk. Subjects were usually statues, life-drawing and architectural surroundings and landscape. Once the student advanced to oils, copying the Old Masters was the norm. A frustrated Alexander Runciman wrote in 1767, “I’ve been buried amongst old statues, and very shortly I’ll leave them for a while to go upon Titian for six months; after that I’ll go to the antique again. The divill’s in it if that plan of education followed with care don’t produce something/’42
6. The Drawings
40 Ibid., p. 28. 41 Ibid., p. 31.
"Who ever has great views, I would recommend to him whilst at Rome rather to live on bread and water than lose these advantages which he can never hope to enjoy a second time and which he will find only in the Vatican."43
Reynolds.
Skirving studied art ‘industriously’ in Italy,44 especially at the Vatican45 with its statues and rich collections of Raphael and Michelangelo, and travelled to other collections in Italy, taking notes, advice, copying paintings, figures and buildings. Although the notebooks are lost, it was a standard procedure for any student of fine art. During his seven and a half years in Italy, Skirving must have produced a great number of drawings and sketches. Only fourteen examples have been found so far. Twelve are in the collection of the National Gallery of Scotland, presented by Miss Bruce of Edinburgh in 1938. The collection consists largely of red chalk drawings, one in black chalk and two in pencil. The additional three donated by Miss Bruce are portraits in pencil or ink but it is difficult to determine whether these were executed in Rome or Edinburgh. Another drawing from Rome was donated by Mrs Hoskins in 1973 and is dated Rome 1793. It shows four different views of a cast leg, reproduced in three colour variations of chalk and in pencil. This careful drawing may exemplify the studies made at the French Academy. (Fig. 24)
Skirving’s drawings reveal a delicate handling, varied in technique and softness. They illustrate his interest in
43 Ibid., p. 24.
44 Sinclair, J. ed. Statistical Account Qf Scotland.. 1Z21-.1Z22. vol. IL Edinburgh, 1975, p. 42.; Rev. Thomas Duncan, Athelstaneford. 1934, p. 108.
architecture, local surroundings and animal life, interests not manifested elsewhere in his work. Several are sketches of the surrounding Vatican grounds with the dome of St Peter's appearing in detail or in the background. Some of his finer works are two finished drawings of an equestrian fountain (National Gallery) set in a park. (Fig. 25) The gentle handling of
with
the red chalk detail almost glow vibrancy, while the portrait of the Irish Franciscan monk, Father James McCormick (Private collection), is sketched with fluency and ease. The friar was a professor of divinity at the Church of Sant' Isidoro, located near the Via degli Artisti where Skirving must have worked.46 (Fig. 26)
The finest work to survive from this Roman period is undoubtedly the detailed drawing of a family of tourists, signed and dated 1792.47 It portrays a seated mother on the right with her small son standing next to her who is facing the viewer. Her husband opposite gazes over their heads, sketching something behind them. The gentle face of the young boy recalls the angel heads of Leonardo; the modelling is soft and delicate. This is the only family portrait attributed to Skirving and it is charming in its intimacy and sensitivity. Although the proportions are somewhat awkward, with the mother's elongated arm and the husband's hand pose, it remains one of the finest drawings he ever produced. Reminiscent of the
46 Various Italian watermarks on the paper sheets establish that it was bought locally but attempts to identify them proved futile. Two have anchor watermarks,, accompanied by capital letters within or underneath the enclosed circle, while another has a six edged star above. The latter is very similar to a date watermark of 1759 in the Architectural Library of Dubrovnik (plate 134, no. 1316. Anchor Watermarks. Vladimir Mosin. Amsterdam 1973, vol. XDI.
47 Until recently in the collection of Mr Paul Opp6, its present location is today unknown. Apart from Skirving's acclaimed portrait of Robert Bums, it is one of his most exhibited works.
24) Drawings from a Cast (National Gallery of Scotland)
ss-j;, --•'
elegant clarity of Ingres Roman drawings of a somewhat later date.48 (Fig. 27)
7. Roman Copies and Pastel Portraiture
Skirving is recorded by contemporaries as having produced several copies after the Old Masters. These were of miniature size or larger and were greatly admired. Lord Gardenstone commissioned two paintings after Correggio in 1789; a painting of A Gypsy Girl and The Gamesters, but since neither belong to the accepted oeuvre of Correggio, it is not known what these may have looked like. Similarly, the theme of Skirving’s pen and ink drawing of Galatea, supposedly after Guido Reni, can not be identified. Skinner noted the latter’s presence in David Laing’s collection in 1879.49 None of the portrait miniatures have been found, nor the miniature copies after Old Masters. However, a miniature copy of the Madonna della Sedia, after Raphael, was catalogued in Sir William Hamilton’s collection in Naples in 1799.50 No artist’s name is given in connection with the miniature, but the size, c. 3 inches, and subject fits Skirving’s speciality. If indeed by him, it would have been made prior to his visit to Naples in 1789.
Skirving turned seriously to pastel portraiture while in Rome. He prospered well in this medium, a popular
48 Stainton, L .British Artists in Rome 1700-1800.1974, No. 18.
49 Laing, D. Catalogue of the Collection of Rare and Curious Drawings ... sold by Auction, December 1879. No. 297. This source was checked but Skirving's drawing was not included in the sale of the 22nd & 23rd Dec.
80 Fothergill, B. Sir Wiliam Hamilton, see Appendix. The complete catalogue, assembled by James Clark for shipment to London in 1798/99, is enclosed in Fothergill's book.
vogue that had been introduced by Rosalba Camera who had inspired a number of artists to take it up, including Catherine Read and Anne Forbes. The earliest documented pastel portrait by Skirving is of Sir William Hamilton in 1789. As this was especially invited by the envoy, it suggests an established