James Tassie, Sculptor and Gem Engraver, ca. 1781

This portrait of sculptor and gem engraver James Tassie shows him holding one of his famous cameos in his left hand and a magnifying glass in his right. The portrait is by David Allan, who trained with Tassie at Glasgow’s Foulis Academy. Tassie was a skilled artist who specialised in producing miniature portraits of historical figures and contemporary sitters in various mediums. As well as engraving medallions and gems, he moulded them in glass cameos like the one he is depicted holding here, which were worn as jewellery by elite customers. The making of a cameo involved many stages of skilled hand work. First, Tassie carved the portrait in wax using a series of fine tools, then made a relief mould from vitreous glass paste. That mould was then used to produce the final 3D portrait, again in vitreous glass paste. The three-dimensional portrait was then mounted on a stone or, in this case, ceramic backing before being placed into the setting, usually of precious metals.

Originally from Pollockshaws, James Tassie (1735-1799) trained in Glasgow at the Foulis Academy before moving to Dublin, where he co-invented a new form of vitreous glass paste. Tassie then moved to London, an established centre of luxury consumption, where he earned a reputation as one of the foremost producers of portraits on gems and cameos. He made work for London jewellers and wealthy private collectors, most famously Catherine the Great. The portrait communicates Tassie’s status and occupation through his luxury dress and the focus on his hands and eyes. He is depicted as a respectable gentleman wearing a fashionable wig and a smart three-piece suit in a rich red colour with a white linen shirt and neck-tie. His hands are engaged, holding a magnifying glass – an important tool for making miniature portraits, and a marker of knowledge – over a finished cameo. The face depicted in the cameo is reflected in the magnifying glass, and Tassie’s eyes are momentarily drawn away from the glass and out of the frame. The portrait clearly marks Tassie as both an owner and maker of luxury goods.