Erika Speel

William Essex (1784-1869) is listed in standard reference books as being the last well known miniature painter working on enamels. Essex had been appointed painter to Queen Victoria in 1839. Royal patronage, the acceptance of enamels in major art exhibitions and widespread collecting interest in miniatures had ensured ongoing commissions coming directly to enamel painters and details of their lives were recorded among those of other artists. Such individual acknowledgement became rare during the late 19th century, but enamel painting continued and

this included the making of portrait miniatures of contemporary sitters as well as copies of older pieces. This situation existed in the early decades of the 20th century and the continuity was not broken, as the art has been taught up to the present generation.

During his long working life, Essex had several associates and pupils who worked in a similar manner of portraiture. Essex had been apprenticed to Charles Muss, an enamel painter who made larger scaled subject pictures. Although Essex could work very successfully in the largerformat with enamels, he was overshadowed in this field by the Bone workshop. Essex became the leading painter in England of portrait miniatures on enamel. These pieces were on oval or rectangular plaques usually of the conventional height of 2 to 3 inches. He also made some very tiny portraits, only half an inch in height, designed to be used as jewellery insets.

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