Henry Bone | |
|---|---|
%2c_the_artist%2527s_father_by_Henry_Pierce_Bone.jpg) Portrait of Henry Bone by his sonHenry Pierce Bone | |
| Born | (1755-02-06)6 February 1755 |
| Died | 17 December 1834(1834-12-17) (aged 79) |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | oil portraits; enamel |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Vandermeulen |
| Children | Henry Pierce Bone Robert Trewick Bone Several others |
| Patron(s) | |
Henry BoneRA (6 February 1755 – 17 December 1834) was an Englishenamel painter. Byc. 1800 he had attracted royal patronage for hisportrait miniatures[1] This patronage continued throughout the reigns of three monarchs;George III,George IV andWilliam IV.[2] In his early career he worked as aporcelain and jewellry painter. He was elected aRoyal Academician and produced the largest enamel paintings ever seen up to that time.
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Henry Bone was born inTruro,Cornwall. His father was acabinet maker andcarver of unusual skill. In 1767, Bone's family moved toPlymouth in neighbouring Devon, where Henry was employed, in 1771, byWilliam Cookworthy, the founder of the Plymouth porcelain works and the first manufacturer ofHard-paste porcelain in England. Later in the same year Bone moved with the factory to Bristol, where then factory was under the management ofRichard Champion of Bristol. In 1772, Bone was apprenticed to Champion, not to Cookworthy as often repeated.[3] He remained for six years, working from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and studying drawing at night. His china decoration can be assumed to be of high merit, and is said by one Victorian writer to have been marked with the figure "1" in addition to the factory-mark, a small cross.[4] This attribution is speculative, however, as are a number of alternative suggestions for what work he carried out at Bristol.
On the failure of the Bristol works in 1778, Bone came toLondon with one guinea of his own in his pocket, and five pounds borrowed from a friend. He first found employmentenameling watches and fans, and afterwards in makingenamel andwatercolour portraits. He became a friend ofJohn Wolcot who would also encourage the talents of portraitistJohn Opie, for many years Bone's neighbour inBerners Street, London.[5] On Wolcot's advice, Bone made professional tours in Cornwall, from where Opie also hailed. Wolcot had been a visitor often at the house of William Cookworthy, and in 1780 Opie painted Cookworthy.
On 24 January 1779, just four days after the expiry of his apprenticeship deed, Bone married Elizabeth Vandermeulen, a descendant of the distinguished battle-painterAdam Frans van der Meulen. The couple went on to have ten children, moving regularly to accommodate their growing family. In 1781 he exhibited his first picture at theRoyal Academy, a portrait of his wife, an unusually large enamel for the period. He then gave himself up entirely to enamel-painting, and continued frequently to exhibit at the Academy, initialing most of his works.[6]
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In 1789, he exhibited "A Muse and Cupid", the largest enamel painting ever executed up to that time. In 1800 he was appointed enamel painter to the Prince of Wales; in 1801 he was made an associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) and enamel painter toGeorge III, continuing to hold the appointment during the reigns ofGeorge IV andWilliam IV. On 15 April 1811 he was elected a royal academician (RA), and shortly afterwards produced a still larger enamel (eighteen inches by sixteen), afterTitian'sBacchus and Ariadne. More than 4000 people saw the work at Bone's house. The picture was sold to Mr. G. Bowles of Cavendish Square for 2,200guineas, whilst the original Titian, borrowed by Bone for copying, was only insured for £1500. The price was paid (either wholly or partly) by a cheque drawn onFauntleroy's Bank. Bone cashed the cheque on his way home, apparently just in time, as it is said that the next day financial difficulties caused the bank to suspend payments!
Bone initially used a subcontractor, Mr. Long, to created the copper plates upon which his works were created.[7] Subsequently he decided to take over this task himself, and in learning to prepare his large plates, he was assisted byEdward Wedlake Brayley, who was by then already a distinguished antiquary, but had trained as an enameller.[6]
Bone's next great works were a series of historical portraits from the time ofElizabeth I, a series of "Cavaliers distinguished in the Civil War", and a series of portraits of theRussell family. Some say that the Elizabethan series did not prove a financial success, but they were painted over a 20 year period with time set aside each year to borrow and make preparatory drawings from original paintings. It may thus have been regarded by Bone as a legacy project and at the time of his death 85 remained at his house at 15Berners Street. In 1832 his eyesight failed, and after having lived at Berners Street for 31 years, he moved in that year to a smaller property inSomers Town, reluctantly applying for, and receiving, a Royal Academy pension.
He died on 17 December 1834, not without complaining of the neglect with which he had latterly been treated. He is said to have been "a man of unaffected modesty and generosity; friendship and integrity adorned his private life".Francis Chantrey carved a bust of him, andJohn Opie,John Jackson, andGeorge Harlow all painted his portrait. In 1819, Bone had attended the funeral of Harlow alongside their friendSir William Beechey.Richard Dagley was another friend.[8][9]
Some time before his death Bone offered his collections, which had been valued at £10,000, to the nation for £4,000, but the offer was declined, and on 22 April 1836 they were sold by auction atChristie's, and so dispersed. Other major sales of his works took place in 1846, 1850, 1854, and 1856.[6]
Today the largest collections of Bone's work are to be found in three principal locations. The Royal Collection houses many portraits, the largest number from a series of Monarchs started by Bone and finished by his son Henry Pierce Bone, are housed at Hillsborough Castle near Belfast. Portraits of the Russell family are at Woburn (currently closed) and a significant number of the historical portraits are at Kingston Lacey, Dorset, a National Trust property.
Bone has been called the "Prince of Enamelers".J. Jope Rogers published a large catalogue of 1,063 works of the Bone family in theJournal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, No. XXII, for March 1880 - half of which was taken up by works by Henry Bone. This list is reproduced in the recent book (Panes, 2025, see below)
The 1951Festival of Britain saw a number of Bone's enamels lent byKing George VI and others to the museum inTruro for an exhibition of Bone's miniatures alongside the portraits of his friendJohn Opie. The two men were neighbours inBerners Street, London and hailed from theCornwall region. TheRoyal Institution of Cornwall presented portraiture from the two artists which were "gathered from all over the country" with the King also loaning his Opie portraits to the museum for the exhibition.[10][11] Henry Bone remains the only enameller to have been appointed a full member of the Royal Academy.
Two of his sons,Henry Pierce Bone and William Bone, were also notable enamellists andRobert Trewick Bone, an oil painter. Another son, Thomas Bone, was amidshipman who was wrecked and drowned during the attempted rescue of sailors from thesloop calledRacehorse off theIsle of Man, while yet another, Peter Bone, was a lieutenant in the36th Regiment, who was wounded at theBattle of Toulouse and died soon after returning to England. A sixth son wascalled to the bar.[6] Four of Bone's grandchildren followed their father, Henry Pierce Bone and became artists, the most notable being Charles Richard Bone who exhibited enamel and other miniatures at the Royal Academy more than 40 times.
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He was bestowed royal patronage throughout the reigns of three monarchs; George III, George IV and William IV...
His greatest service was , perhaps , discovering both John Opie , ' the Cornish Wonder ' , and Henry Bone . These two became intimate friends , and were near neighbours in Berners Street for several years , before Opie died from...
William Beechey , Henry Bone , the celebrated enamelist , and other artists and friends , being present . Of the person and peculiarities of Harlow It
...His Lordship thanked those, from the King downwards, who had lent the works for the exhibition...
Berners Street was long the home of artists. John Opie, Royal Academician, author, and painter of "The Slaughter of James I. of Scotland," lived at No. 8;... [Henry] Bone the painter of miniatures lived at No. 15. It was here, ...
Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Tregellas, Walter Hawken (1886). "Bone, Henry". InStephen, Leslie (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 5. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
