tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25320001.post114411055751273557..comments2022-10-18T11:19:21.939-07:00Comments on 1 British Miniature Portraits: Kean, Michael - portrait of Mrs Samuel KeysDon Sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01981381449429373197noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25320001.post-37011743292017387582014-11-24T00:48:41.700-08:002014-11-24T00:48:41.700-08:00Thank you, Don. I've done more research.
The I...Thank you, Don. I've done more research.<br />The Irish miniature artist, Michael Kean, was associated with the Duesbury’s porcelain manufactury at Derby between 1795 and 1811. He then left for London where he died in 1823.<br /><br />According to John Twitchett, Samuel Keys Snr was apprenticed to the manufactory in 1785. Twitchett mentions that three of his sons were also associated with the manufactory, Edward, John and Samuel Jnr, and that John died in 1825. <br />All Saints, Derby parish records show that a Samuel Keys was christened at All Saints, Derby, in 1770. The records of St Peter’s Cathedral, Sheffield, show that a Samuel Keys married a Hannah Ault on 28/11/1792. The Saint Alkmunds, Derby, records give several children of a Samuel and Hannah Keys christened there including Edward (in 1795), John (in 1797) and Samuel (1804). The records of All Saints, Derby, include the burial of a John Keys in 1825. The records of Saint Werburgh’s, Derby, indicate that a Samuel Keys married a Mary Hazeldine in 1828. <br /><br />Twitchett says that Samuel Keys Jnr was at Minton’s, Stoke-on-Trent, between c1831-42. The 1841 census returns include a Samuel Keys (born c1806, occupation modeller) and his wife Mary resident in Burslem, close to Stoke-on-Trent (Ancestry.com gives Samuel’s surname as Keye, but inspection of the image indicates that this is a transcription error). <br /><br />Michael Kean is most unlikely to have painted the portrait after 1811. Therefore, if it is his work, the subject of the painting must surely be Hannah Keys, née Ault. If the subject’s clothing preclude this possibility then she could be Mary Keys, née Hazeldine. But, if so, the artist would certainly not have been Michael Kean. I agree that, if the artist is Michael Kean of Duesbury and Kean, the subject is unlikely to be Frances Keys, née Cundell. She appears (along with the portrait!) on many Ancestry.com trees. But she died in 1792 and her husband, Samuel, died in 1838 Jackson, Alabama. I doubt that Michael Kean travelled far north of London until Duesbury II recruited him in 1795.<br /> <br />My interest in this, by the way, is that Michael Kean features in a book I’m writing and I would like to include one of his works in the book. Ideally this would be the portrait of William Duesbury II and his wife Elizabeth, née Edwards but Mrs Keys would do if it can be authenticated. <br />Robert Cuttshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15724328370105655142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25320001.post-32159080504174755562014-11-23T10:39:15.668-08:002014-11-23T10:39:15.668-08:00Robert, Thank you very much for this additional in...Robert, Thank you very much for this additional information. As her clothing dates to around 1835-45, it seems that the Mrs Samuel Keys in the miniature portrait is therefore most likely the wife of the Samuel Keys Jr, that you mention. <br />(Rather than the Frances Cundell suggested by a previous visitor, as the date of the clothing is wrong for her.)<br />DonDon Sheltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01981381449429373197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25320001.post-90426376447397363502014-11-23T08:13:59.229-08:002014-11-23T08:13:59.229-08:00John Twitchett in 'Derby Porcelain 1748-1848 -...John Twitchett in 'Derby Porcelain 1748-1848 - an Illustrated Guide' (2002) has written:<br />SAMUEL KEYS, Snr<br />Was apprenticed to Duesbury in 1785 and proved to be one of the finest gilders of his day, excelling in gold arabesque decoration<br />EDWARD KEYS<br />This son of Samuel Keys was a fine modeller and, according to Haslem*, was responsible for the fourteen figures illustrating the amusing antics of William Coombe’s character Dr Syntax and for many other figures. Edward Keys succeeded Isaac Farnsworth* as foreman of the figure department in 1821, and kept that position until he left in 1826. Robin Reilly in his Dictionary of Wedgwood states that Edward Keys went to work for Daniel in 1826, later (1831-42) for Minton and that he attempted to establish his own works, which failed. In 1845 he went to Wedgwood until 1858.<br />JOHN KEYS<br />Another son of Samuel Keys, he died at the early age of twenty-seven after a long and lingering illness.The Derby Mercury reported his death on 27 April 1825:<br />On Thursday (Ap. 21. 1825) aged 27, after a long and protracted illness Mr. John Keys of this place, flower painter. As an artist, though almost self-taught, he ranked high, and has left behind specimens of his superior abilities; his style which was entirely his own, is allowed to be chaste and masterly, all his studies and best pictures are from nature which he closely copied.<br />Haslem tells us how Keys’ figure decoration in the Dresden style was unsurpassed. He left Derby some years before the close and went to work at Minton’s.<br />SAMUEL KEYS, Jnr<br />Another son of Samuel Keys Senior, he was a modeller and Haslem* lists his models (see Appendix I). He succeeded Thomas Griffin as foreman of the figure department and stayed there until he left in 1830. Like his brother Edward, he worked for Minton’s — the dates, according to Geoffrey Godden, c.1831-42 for Edward and 1830¬1840s for Samuel Jnr. By about 1850 Samuel Jnr had joined John Mountford, who claimed to have been the discoverer of Parian body while at Copeland & Garrett’s, and these two received an ‘honourable mention’ for their Parian ware at the 1851 Exhibition. Godden further states that in 1877 Lady Charlotte Schreiber remarked upon ‘Poor Mr. Keys, a hearty old man of 72 or 73’, whom she had found employed at Peterinck’s factory at Tournai.<br /><br />* The Old Derby China Factory: The Workmen and Their Productions, John Haslem, 1876 <br />Robert Cuttshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15724328370105655142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25320001.post-40828133544716810562009-09-12T15:59:41.962-07:002009-09-12T15:59:41.962-07:00I believe the woman who you say is Mrs. Samuel Key...I believe the woman who you say is Mrs. Samuel Keys is madien name Frances Cundell, she is my gggg grandmother, I have a genealogy page on ancestry.com<br /><br />Jessica Malone<br />Cleburne, Texas USA<br /><br />jessicamalone419@yahoo.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com