(In the collection of H. Sutclife Smith, Esq.) PORTRAIT BY MRS. BEETHAM. Painted in delicate manner. Inside measurement 2 in. by 2 in. the earlier exponents has been forgotten, except by collectors. Miers is an artist who comes into notoriety. It was he who made a portrait of "Mr. Burns of Kilmarnock," dated 1787, which is now at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Concerning this portrait, Robert Burns writes from Mauchline June 23, 1788: "Mr. Miers, profile painter in your town, has executed a profile of Dr. Blacklock for me; do me the favour to call for it, and sit to him yourself for me, which put in the same size as the doctor's. The account of both profiles will be fifteen shillings, which I have given to James Connel, our Mauchline carrier, to pay you when you give him the parcel. You must not, my friend, refuse to sit. The time is short; when I sat to Mr. Miers I am sure he did not exceed two minutes. I propose hanging Lord Glencairn, the Doctor and yourself in trio over my new chimney-piece that is to be." Miers was the most noted London silhouettist of his day; he originally came from Leeds. He was the Cosway of metropolitan shadow limners. He seems to have systematized his subjects; his advertisement runs, "Miers, profile painter and jeweller, III Strand, London, opposite Exeter Change, executes likenesses in profile in a style of superior excellence, with unequalled accuracy, which convey the most forcible expression in animated character even in the most minute size for brooches, lockets, etc. Time of sitting three minutes. Miers preserves all the original sketches, from which he can at any time supply copies without the trouble of sitting again." We have proof that this record was faithfully kept. The successor of Miers was John Field. The firm was known as Miers and Field. In 1834 a biographer of Burns sought out Mr. Field, who produced the life-size original of the silhouette of Burns. "It is one of thirty thousand likenesses taken by the same skilled hand," says the writer. would be interesting to know what has become of this life-size silhouette of Burns, of which the finished portrait is in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. It Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. When Rosenberg settled at Bath, Hamlet became his rival. Similarly when Miers made his quarters in the Strand, Charles, his competitor, had adjacent premises at 130 Strand. Another imitator of Miers was Rider of Temple Bar. These trade rivals even copied the styles of frame used by Miers. " These short sittings and this pseudo "scientific' method of reproducing likenesses must have come as a daring thing to our ancestors. It was novel, it was cheap, it was personal. It smacked of scientific exactitude, which in reality it did not possess. It was the forerunner of the camera. As to the duration of sittings given to great painters, it is on record that Sir Walter Scott sat to Sir Thomas Lawrence no less than forty |