School of Spoilum, circa 1810

painted circa 1810; in the original Federal giltwood frames.

Both portraits were exhibited at the Peabody Museum (now the Peabody Essex Museum) 1986-1988 "Chinese Export Art: Highlights of a Private Collection."

Carl Crossman, The Decorative Arts of the China Trade, 1991, pp. 164-165

Jefferson, illus., p. 169; Antiques and Fine Arts, 2006

 

The period giltwood frames were custom made in China, for this pair of paintings at the time they were completed. They were made in the Federal style for export to America. They are constructed using Chinese workmanship. They have show through tenons which is typical of Chinese cabinetry. These frames are rare examples. In-paint scattered in background; Chinese made frames; original stretchers; both very good
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The Thomas Jefferson portrait was made after a print by Robert Field in 1807, after the well known Gilbert Stuart painting Portrait of Thomas Jefferson, 1805-1807, that is now in the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in Brunswick, Maine.  It is possible that the painting was done by a follower of Spoilum, rather than Spoilum himself, as he painted from around 1780-1810 and this painting may have been painted after he retired.

However, Spoilum remains rather enigmatic, as not too much is actually known about him.  His name may have been a combination of pidgin and possibly his family name "Lum" or "Lam". However, according to Patrick Conner, Spoilum may be identified with the Cantonese "export" artist named Guan Zuolin in a Chinese gazetteer (Zheng Rong, Xu Nanhai xianzhi, 1910 ed., juan 21, p. 9a).

His works on oils beginning around 1780, were considered the earliest works of oil on canvas by a Chinese artist painting for the Western market.  As a portraitist, he was highly sought after by Western merchants in China because of his great skill and the relative affordability of his work.  One merchant wrote in his journal in 1793 that he "went to Spoilum and sat for two hours to have his portrait taken.  He was $10 each and does a great deal of business in that line.  I was surprised to see how expert he was doing it."

Spoilum most likely never travelled outside of his native China and probably never met a professional artist from the West, yet he was able to confidently model the face and present his subject in a manner familiar to a Western audience.  He was able to paint from life, copying other paintings, as well as paint on glass.  It has been suggested that his work on canvas seems to have a closer affinity to American contemporaries like John Brewster (1799-1854), J. Brown (w. 1803-1868) and William Jennys (w. 1793-1807), whereas his work on glass has a British influence.  But there is no evidence supporting this theory that these painters influenced his work.  

The visible translucence of the brush strokes suggests that Spoilum used very little oil or other medium common in the West to make the pigment more viscous.  These techniques used by Spoilum were derived from ancient Chinese watercolor tradition.  He sometimes created certain facial highlights by dragging a rag over the wet color to reveal the lighter ground, similar to watercolour painting techniques.  The pursing of the corners of the mouth, slight raising of the eyebrows and highlighting the background just behind the subject's right shoulder are all characteristic traits of Spoilum's paintings.  

It has been suggested that the sitter in the companion portrait might be George Washington based on a profile portrait of Washington done by James Sharples, circa 1796, currently at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.  It could also very well be a wealthy merchant or trader. But it is certainly a companion portrait to the Thomas Jefferson portrait in that the mounting and the frames are the same.   According to Carl Crossman, this painting and the Jefferson painting are similar to a number of portraits of American merchants and traders which can be grouped together as being by one painter.  

The painting exhibits the large facial features, pursing of the corners of the mouth raised as a slight smile, and the blue-gray background which are all characteristic of Spoilum's work.  It does lack the usual highlight around the head, often seen on the right side of the subject's head.  It may be that since this painting was done in profile, the highlight was not needed. This particular painting is similar to a portrait of Joseph Winslow, a supercargo of the Rose from 1805-1807, in the Nantucket Historical Association, and illustrated in Michael Jehle, "Captain James Cary and Nantucket's China Trade,"  Magazine Antiques, July 1994.