TO COMMEMORATE THE 204TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WRITER’S DEATH (18 JULY), THE JANE AUSTEN LITERACY FOUNDATION COMMISSIONED A BRAND-NEW SILHOUETTE OF JANE BY THE CELEBRITY SILHOUETTE ARTIST CHARLES BURNS, BASED ON A FORENSICALLY ACCURATE WAXWORK RECONSTRUCTION.
Julia B. Grantham on a new silhouette of Jane Austen by Charles Burns:
For the artwork for our tenth Collectable Bookplate, I’ve decided to approach Charles Burns, a renowned silhouette artist. In his thirty-year-long career, Charles has cut portraits of some of the most prominent figures of our time—from The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh to Neil Armstrong; Nelson Mandela to Jeremy Clarkson; Bill Clinton to Gary Lineker—just to name a few!
When I reached out to Charles about creating a new bookplate for the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation, his first (and only!) reaction was: “All I can think of is creating a new silhouette of Jane Austen.”
Needless to say, I was incredibly excited about this idea! We have, sadly, such a scarce amount of Jane’s likeness that an addition to this limited range would be a welcome contribution indeed.
My thoughts immediately went to a wax figure of Jane Austen, created by a forensic scientist, Melissa Dring, revealed by the Jane Austen Centre, Bath in 2014.
Melissa Dring, who trained at the Royal Academy Schools in London as a portrait painter and also trained with the FBI as a Police Forensic artist, first created the new likeness of Jane Austen in 2002. It was a pastel portrait based on the latest findings on Jane’s appearance, using eyewitness accounts, existing (limited) portraits, and silhouettes of her. Melissa said she used Cassandra’s small pencil and watercolour sketch as a "starting point" for her pastel portrait, which later became the basis for the waxwork. However, she remarked that Cassandra’s portrait “Does make it look like she's [Jane’s] been sucking lemons. She has a somewhat sour and dour expression”.
"But we know from all accounts of her,” Melissa continues, “she was very lively, very great fun to be with, and a mischievous and witty person."
Indeed, the written account of Jane’s likeness describes her very differently from the way she looks in the portraits we know.
"In person she was very attractive;” writes her nephew, James-Edward Austen, “her figure was rather tall and slender, her step light and firm, and her whole appearance expressive of health and animation. In complexion she was a clear brunette with a rich colour; she had full round cheeks, with mouth and nose small and well-formed bright hazel eyes, and brown hair forming natural curls close round her face."
An account seconded by Jane’s niece, Caroline Austen: "...Hers was the first face that I can remember thinking pretty... Her hair, a darkish brown, curled naturally—it was in short curls round her face... Her face was rather round than long—she had a bright, but not a pink colour—a clear brown complexion and very good hazel eyes—... before she left Steventon she was established as a very pretty girl, in the opinion of most of her neighbours."
Melissa Dring’s waxwork probably is the only depiction of Jane that we know of that comes close to the affectionate descriptions above.
Charles was thrilled by my suggestion of the waxwork, and after a few brief exchanges of information, the idea had taken shape in our minds.
He based his silhouette not only on the aforementioned waxwork, but also on his knowledge of an art of silhouette cutting in the beginning of the nineteenth century and the two existing silhouettes that could “possibly” be attributed to a likeness of Jane Austen.
One—from the National Portrait Gallery. Found in the back of the second volume of Jane Austen's third published novel (Mansfield Park) and inscribed “L'aimable Jane”, this silhouette has been accepted as one of Jane Austen by her biographer, R.W. Chapman, who said “Who would insert, in a copy of Mansfield Park, a portrait of any other Jane than its author?” The argument, however, has not been accepted by everyone, and even the National Portrait Gallery describes it only as “Possibly Jane Austen”.
The other is a less known silhouette of Jane Austen kept in Winchester Cathedral and was “done by herself in 1815,” according to the inscription on the back. It was presented to the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral in 1956 by Miss Jessie Lefroy, a descendant of James Austen, Jane’s eldest brother. Even during the commemorative exhibition at Winchester Cathedral in 2017, it had a notice indicating that its authenticity was in dispute because “stylistically” it seemed to date from the end of the nineteenth century. Charles believes this silhouette to be more accurate and thinks that it was done as a “shadow tracing”, which was very popular in the nineteenth century.
Watch a full interview with Charles for more information about these silhouettes:
Charles has also meticulously studied portraits of Jane Austen’s family members, knowing that the Austen family has shared some distinctive family traits that would have been seen in Jane’s appearance as well.
The result of his work is before you—a new, never-seen-before silhouette of Jane Austen based on the latest scientific and forensic discoveries and created by one of the best silhouette artists in the world.
Charles Burns donated the silhouette to the Foundation for exclusive use. It features on our brand-new JALitF Collectable Bookplate—the tenth in the collection. You can purchase it personalised with your own name in Jane’s hand in our Bookplate Shop.
Silhouette Competition!
Purchase the new Jane Austen Silhouette Bookplate, personalised with your name in Jane Austen’s hand, before 5th August 2021, for your chance to WIN a double silhouette cutting session with Charles Burns on Zoom, for you and three friends. You don’t even have to be in one place—you can join in from anywhere in the world! See our bookplate shop for details:
I hope you enjoy the new silhouette as much as we do.
© Julia B Grantham, JALitF Ambassador and manager of our Bookplate Collection. Author of A Mole Like No Other and Mr Darcy’s Guide To Pemberely
The new silhouette of Jane Austen is copyright Charles Burns and is available exclusively from the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation. The silhouette may not be reproduced in any way, without the prior written permission of the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation.
