ENGLISH PROFILIST

ENGLISH PROFILIST, EARLY 19TH C LIFE SIZE SILHOUETTE OF THE HEAD OF LORD BYRON cut paper, 30 x 23cm, giltwood and composition frameIllustrated: Boyes (M), Love Without Wings a Biography of Elizabeth Pigot, Derby 1988, p12.This arresting image has traditionally been attributed to John Leacroft (1743-1819) who captured the poet's likeness ad vivum in Southwell in about 1806. Byron's handsome shadow profile is instantly recognisable. It is obviously the work of an unaided amateur with the paper cutter's scissors. The paper and backing sheets are of the late 18th or early 19th c. The ink too, appears old (although no analysis has been made).Another profile of the head of the 18 year old Byron was in the Peyraud Collection. It bore the handwritten inscription on the mount 'W S Leacroft c1806-7 Southall [sic]' but was also considered to have been taken by John Leacroft. It was sold, Bloomsbury Auctions, New York in May 2009 and realised 7000.