Henry Spicer
A portrait enamel of Louisa Dorothea Clinton (née Holroyd) (1776-1854) as a child, wearing white dress with red sash, her bonnet trimmed with red ribbon and white feathers, 1783
Enamel on copper
Oval, 2 in. (51 mm) high
Signed and dated on obverse ‘S’
Philip Mould & Co.
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com This portrait of Louisa or Louise Holroyd, wearing fashionable quasi-Turkish dress, shows her at the age of six in a...
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com
This portrait of Louisa or Louise Holroyd, wearing fashionable quasi-Turkish dress, shows her at the age of six in a portrait by the enamel artist Henry Spicer. The daughter of John Baker Holroyd (later 1st Earl Sheffield) and his wife Abigail, the family lived at Sheffield Park in Sussex, enjoying the benefits of a large fortune inherited from an uncle.[1]
This portrait reflects some of the precociousness Louisa showed as a child, when her and her older sister Maria (1771-1863) would write and perform plays. These performances were far from the material deemed suitable for aristocratic girls. Often focussing on the central theme of controlling their future, the plays suggested that women should rise against convention and in particular that marriage partners should be chosen by the woman herself and not by her parents. It was clear that Louisa and her sister Maria thought differently to other girls of their age (and class) at this time. Part of this early re-thinking of principles attached to late 18th century may have been their father’s close friendship with the Enlightenment intellectual Edward Gibbon (1737-94), who taught Maria between the ages of twelve and sixteen.
From a young age, Louisa’s life was, however, characterised by a constant overshadowing by her elder sister, Maria. Maria did indeed choose her own husband, John Thomas Stanley, whom she married in 1796. The thousands of letters Maria wrote illustrate the advantages of growing up in a rich intellectual and social environment, the impact of travel and an insight into a marriage which was surprisingly egalitarian for the time.
Louisa’s life had a very different trajectory to that of her sister and was dominated by her fragile mental and physical health. Where Maria was robust and forthcoming, Louisa was frail and emotional. By 1791, at the age of sixteen, Louisa was ‘exiled’ by her father, who could no longer cope with her deteriorating emotional and physical health. Louisa took refuge with her aunt, Sarah (Serena) Holroyd in Bath.
By 1793, Louisa had spent two years living in exile in Bath with Serena, who was growing increasingly concerned for the future of her troubled niece’s emotional health. Following news of her mother’ death, by autumn of that year Louisa was admitted for treatment at an institution in Tunbridge Wells. In December 1794, their father remarried to the complete surprise of Maria and Louisa. Both sisters were invited to the wedding, but Louisa did not attend.
Following Serena’s pleas to Louisa’s family, she reconnected with her family in 1796 much to the delight of her aunt. Maria, however, remained conscious of the emotional hardships endured by her sister beneath the glittering façade of rich dress and noble courting. As suspected by Maria, Louisa proved to be resigned to fate and by spring 1797 was married to General William Henry Clinton. Within the year, Louisa and William welcomed their first child, Louisa “Lou” Lucy Clinton, but motherhood did not bring an end to Louisa’s troubled mental state. On numerous occasions, Maria referred to Serena and Louisa, the outcasts, as the “invalids”, and was critical of their close relationship.
Unable to cope with motherhood, Louisa entrusted her daughter, at the age of four, to Lady Louisa Stuart. Although she went on to have five further children with her husband between 1799-1810, little is known of her later life aside from her death on 14 May 1854, passing the same year as her eldest child, Lou. Unwittingly, Henry Spicer’s portrait here captures what would come to be a defining characteristic of Louisa Clinton née Holroyd’s life: an anxious search for approval; an anxiety which would later be mirrored by her eldest daughter.
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. Although the scale if this enamel portrait is intimate, it reflects Spicer’s awareness of current fashions in oil portraits of the period. It appears to have been commissioned the same time as a double portrait of Maria and Louisa by John Downman, as an engraving in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery was published the same year.[2]
[1] The gardens at Sheffield Park are now managed by the National Trust.
[2] This double portrait shows the sisters in profile; NPG D15310 (reference collection)
This portrait of Louisa or Louise Holroyd, wearing fashionable quasi-Turkish dress, shows her at the age of six in a portrait by the enamel artist Henry Spicer. The daughter of John Baker Holroyd (later 1st Earl Sheffield) and his wife Abigail, the family lived at Sheffield Park in Sussex, enjoying the benefits of a large fortune inherited from an uncle.[1]
This portrait reflects some of the precociousness Louisa showed as a child, when her and her older sister Maria (1771-1863) would write and perform plays. These performances were far from the material deemed suitable for aristocratic girls. Often focussing on the central theme of controlling their future, the plays suggested that women should rise against convention and in particular that marriage partners should be chosen by the woman herself and not by her parents. It was clear that Louisa and her sister Maria thought differently to other girls of their age (and class) at this time. Part of this early re-thinking of principles attached to late 18th century may have been their father’s close friendship with the Enlightenment intellectual Edward Gibbon (1737-94), who taught Maria between the ages of twelve and sixteen.
From a young age, Louisa’s life was, however, characterised by a constant overshadowing by her elder sister, Maria. Maria did indeed choose her own husband, John Thomas Stanley, whom she married in 1796. The thousands of letters Maria wrote illustrate the advantages of growing up in a rich intellectual and social environment, the impact of travel and an insight into a marriage which was surprisingly egalitarian for the time.
Louisa’s life had a very different trajectory to that of her sister and was dominated by her fragile mental and physical health. Where Maria was robust and forthcoming, Louisa was frail and emotional. By 1791, at the age of sixteen, Louisa was ‘exiled’ by her father, who could no longer cope with her deteriorating emotional and physical health. Louisa took refuge with her aunt, Sarah (Serena) Holroyd in Bath.
By 1793, Louisa had spent two years living in exile in Bath with Serena, who was growing increasingly concerned for the future of her troubled niece’s emotional health. Following news of her mother’ death, by autumn of that year Louisa was admitted for treatment at an institution in Tunbridge Wells. In December 1794, their father remarried to the complete surprise of Maria and Louisa. Both sisters were invited to the wedding, but Louisa did not attend.
Following Serena’s pleas to Louisa’s family, she reconnected with her family in 1796 much to the delight of her aunt. Maria, however, remained conscious of the emotional hardships endured by her sister beneath the glittering façade of rich dress and noble courting. As suspected by Maria, Louisa proved to be resigned to fate and by spring 1797 was married to General William Henry Clinton. Within the year, Louisa and William welcomed their first child, Louisa “Lou” Lucy Clinton, but motherhood did not bring an end to Louisa’s troubled mental state. On numerous occasions, Maria referred to Serena and Louisa, the outcasts, as the “invalids”, and was critical of their close relationship.
Unable to cope with motherhood, Louisa entrusted her daughter, at the age of four, to Lady Louisa Stuart. Although she went on to have five further children with her husband between 1799-1810, little is known of her later life aside from her death on 14 May 1854, passing the same year as her eldest child, Lou. Unwittingly, Henry Spicer’s portrait here captures what would come to be a defining characteristic of Louisa Clinton née Holroyd’s life: an anxious search for approval; an anxiety which would later be mirrored by her eldest daughter.
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. Although the scale if this enamel portrait is intimate, it reflects Spicer’s awareness of current fashions in oil portraits of the period. It appears to have been commissioned the same time as a double portrait of Maria and Louisa by John Downman, as an engraving in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery was published the same year.[2]
[1] The gardens at Sheffield Park are now managed by the National Trust.
[2] This double portrait shows the sisters in profile; NPG D15310 (reference collection)
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