WILLIAM WOOD

William Wood lived a short life but filled it with the production of miniatures and watercolours like the present work. A detailed record of his work as a miniature painter can be found within George Williamson’s The Miniature Collector (1821). Williamson, who owned a set of ledgers created by Wood in his life, published in this book a list of sitter’s names, and it is possible that the sitter in this miniature is amongst them. Unfortunately, though the original ledgers did have traces that could have allowed for a connection, these are not accessible today and it has not been possible to identify the gentleman in this portrait.

Wood was a member of numerous societies, having trained at the Royal Academy Schools, and later becoming a founding member of the Society of Associated Artists in Watercolour. The latter was an attempt to bring together miniaturists and more ‘traditional’ watercolour painters, given that this was a medium which was commonly used by miniature painters at the time. In fact, Williamson records that in the last few years of his life, Wood became fonder of painting just watercolours, rather than portrait miniatures specifically.

This portrait has been painted using a technique typical of Wood; using both small dots and small brush strokes to create texture. Upon close inspection, lines that almost appear to be scratches have been used across the face and hair to create shape, by adding some lightness within the areas that they appear.