Gervase Spencer (c.1715–1763), was an English miniaturist.

Biography

Gervase Spencer was an English miniaturist. Originally a

footman A footman is a male domestic worker employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage. Etymology Originally in the 14th century a footman denoted a soldier or any pedestrian, later it indicated a foot servant. A running footman deli ...

to a "Dr W," Spencer taught himself the art of painting in

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...

on ivory, and was encouraged by his employer. Since enamels were in vogue at the time, he also mastered the complexities of this process. Spencer's prodigious output is divided almost equally between enamels and ivory. Spencer's early work closely resembles that of Jean-André Rouquet (1701 - 1758) and may well have been influenced by him. His first works date from the early 1740s, about the time that he would heve been employed as a servant, with the majority of his production coming between 1745 and 1761. Spencer trained Henry Spicer (1743 - 1804) and possibly

Penelope Carwardine Penelope Carwardine (c. 1729 – 14 October 1805; married name Penelope Butler) was an English portrait miniature painter. Early life Penelope Carwardine was baptised on 29 April 1729 at Withington, Herefordshire, England. She was one of eig ...

(1729 - 1804) to continue the tradition and art of miniatures on enamel and ivory. Spencer met many of the leading London artists of his days including Sir Joshua Reynods (1732 - 1792) who took his portrait. His status was such that in 1763, the year of his death, he was one of only twenty-four miniaturists listed in Mortimer's Universal Director, a directory of leading professionals of all trades. He was a very fair artist and generally signed his works G. S. Spencer married her intimate friend and his only daughter had a husband whose surname was Lloyd. He chiefly showed female sitters and painted with thinly diffused tints, over a delicate grey under.Painted Enamels: An Illustrated Survey 1500-1920 Erika Speel · 2008

Works

* Lady Gower, née Elizabeth Fazakerley. Signed and dated on the front GS 1745. * Lady Caroline Fox. Enemel signed and dated on the back 1747. * Sir James MacDonald. Enemel signed and dated on the front GS 1747. * Nathaniel Ryder, 1st Baron Harrowby (1735–1803). Signed on the front: 'GS 1748'. * Susan Ashley-Cooper Noel (1710–1758) the daughter of Baptist Noel,3rd Earl of Gainsborough,1748 ca, ivory signed on the obverse. * Martha North, Signed and dated on the back 1749. * Marguerite Madeleine de Cerjat born Stample in London (3/4/1736 – 25/4/1813). Signed and dated on the front GS 1749. * Margaret Woffington (known as Peg) (1714–1760). Signed and dated on the front GS 1750. * Lady Louisa Augusta Greville (born 1743). Signed and dated on the front GS 1751. * Unknown Lady. Signed and dated on the back J Spencer pinx 1752. Victoria & Albert Museum, London. * François Duquesnoy (1579–1643). Signed with initials and dated 'G S 1752' enamel on copper. * George, 3rd Duke of St. Albans. Signed with initials and dated 'G.S 1753'. * Susannah Beckford (née Love) (died 1803). Signed on the counter-enamel and dated G. Spencer pinxit/ 1755. * Countess of Coventry. Enamel, signed with initials and dated 1757 on the obverse and in full on the reverse. * Henry Vansittart (1756–1786). Signed and dated on the front GS 1760. * Isabella Dalton (née Wray, 1731–1780). Signed and dated 1761.

References

Gervase Spencer on the website jjhc.info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Gervase 1710s births 1763 deaths 18th-century English painters English male painters English portrait miniaturists 18th-century English male artists