Anyone know about a enamellist, Henry Bone, born & died in England?

Answer 1

This is from several sources:

Henry Bone, English miniaturist, born in Truro, Feb. 6, 1755 and died in Somerstown, Dec. 17, 1834. Son of a woodcarver and cabinetmaker, he produced a dynasty of enamellers which included Henry Pierce Bone and William Bone. As a child he was taught art and at sixteen had been apprenticed to a porcelain manufacturer in Plymouth, painting landscapes and floral scenes. Most of his works were on enamel, but he did make a few miniatures on ivory early in his career. His enamels were usually copies after full-scale paintings, although a few were from life. He made some series, including an important group of figures from the Elizabethan era. Bone experimented with enamelling techniques and, with larger plaques, often inscribed on the reverse detailed information about the original painting, as well as his signature and the date. His are works are in major museums including the Metropolitan and the National Portrait Gallery.
Henry Bone (1755 - 1834), English enamel painter, was born at Truro. He was employed by London jewelers for small designs in enamel, before his merits as an artist were well known to the public. In 1800 the beauty of his pieces attracted the notice of the Royal Academy, of which he was then admitted as an associate; in 1811 he was made an academician. Up to 1831 he executed many beautiful miniature pieces of much larger size than had been attempted before in England; among these his eighty-five portraits of the time of Queen Elizabeth, of different sizes, from 5 by 4 to 13 by 8 in. are most admired. They were disposed of by public sale after his death. His Bacchus and Ariadne, after Titian, painted on a plate, brought the great price of 2200 guineas. He had 2 sons, who were also notable enamallists: Henry Pierce Bone & Robert Trewick Bone.

He debuted as painter on porcelain then went to London in 1779. He made copies of Titian and Rubens. He was member of the Academy in 1811. The majority of its very nombrreux emaux form part of collection of the King of England, the Count de Derby, Wallace Collection, the collection of Hughes Anderson, Aldridge of the collecion Sir John Simeon, Nachemsohn collection, and the very important collction of the Duke of Bedford. Included portraits of: Phillipe, Archduke of Austria, Jeanne, his wife, John Russell, Count of Bedford, Francis, second Count of Bedford, etc.

Maria Louisa Medley's great grandfather, Henry Bone R.A. (1755-1834) was born in Truro, Cornwall and became a renowned painter of enamel miniatures. His career really took off in 1780, when he exhibited his first enamel, a portrait of his wife, at the Royal Academy. He was commissioned as a royal miniaturist painter to both George III and Queen Victoria and was elected to the Royal Academy in 1811. In the same year, he painted one of his best and largest works, a copy of 'Bacchus and Ariadne' by Titian, which was shown at the National Gallery. This enamel was later sold for 2,200 guineas by Bone. (To get some idea of the true value of such a sale, consider that about one hundred years later his great granddaughter paid her head gardener £100 for working a whole year). Bone's enamels are predominantly copies of Old Masters and paintings by his contemporaries. The works that made him wealthy also included the hundreds of family portraits he painted for the English and Continental aristocracy. His enamel of Charles X, King of France, after Gérard, 1829, measures 364mm x 260mm and is presently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. If you have about £8,000 to spare, an 8¼ inch enamel of Sir Isaac Newton was on sale in November 2002.

http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp00474&role=art
http://www.gilbert-collection.org.uk/thecollections/art_in_enamel/enamel03.html
http://www.minrec.org/artwork.asp?page=3&artistid=44&cat=1
His signature: http://images.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/Fullimage.asp?Letter=B&Creator=Bone%2C+Henry%2C+1755-1834&ID=AUTAS001126256452
http://winsfordwalledgarden.com/v_gardens.aspx?Group=gardens&Page=family_history
E. Benezit: Dictionnaire des Peintres....