SAMPSON TOWGOOD ROCH, MINIATURIST

IRISH ARTS REVIEW
SAMPSON TOWGOOD ROCH, MINIATURIST
in Orange', (Private Collection), the
features are lightly built up; the pale
pinkish skin tones are counterbalanced
and emphasized, in the case of the
former by the strong blue of the
officer's costume, and in the latter, a
similar contrast is apparent between the
delicate visage of the boy, and the vivid
colour of his orange costume.
A distinguishing feature of Roch's
portraits, generally, is the fact that so
many of the sitters are painted with an
incipient smile, sometimes even an
actual grin. Daphne Foskett considered
this a defect; in the entry on Roch in
her A Dictionary of British Miniature
Painters, she opines "he was a
good
artist but rather too often gave his
sitters an
incipient smile or smirk."22
A less obvious detail, characteristic of
Roch's style, is the frequent use of light
shading around the eyes, but typical of
his technique is the brio with which he
treats certain aspects of the sitter's
appearance. Thus, in his portrait of
Lady Gwendoline Spencer (1788) and
of "A Lady With Pearls", (both Private
Collections), Roch's attention to the
detail of the sitter's hair provides
a
focus for the picture, and imbues it with
a note at once characteristic of his style,
and revelatory of the character of the
sitter. Such a combination is also
apparent in his portrait of Mary Roch;
there, the distinctive feature of a
somewhat uncompromising bonnet with
ribbons, complements the face and
general appearance of the sitter,
emphasizing what must have been the
sitter's endearing, though conservative,
character.
Roch's attention to the details of
costume is equally evident in his
portraits of male sitters. In the formal
portrait of Lord Charlemont, (Private
Collection), wearing the insignia of a
Knight of St. Patrick, we see a genial,
urbane nobleman with a
prematurely
aged face, and, as in the slightly less
formal one of his own brother, William
Roch, (Private Collection), the sitter's
costume is beautifully modelled, and
painted with a characteristic finish,
displaying little evidence of the minute
brush strokes. Clothing in Roch's work
is often painted with opaque colours.
Roch painted mainly oval portrait
miniatures, water-colour on
ivory; these
were encased usually in gold
or passe
partout frames. He rarely painted
rectangular miniatures, such as his
portrait of Mrs. Piozzi, and his 4A Lady
in a Hat with Flowers', (both in Private
Collections). Some miniatures on card
have survived, but these were probably
sketches for more finished works.
It appears to have been Roch's usual
practice to sign and date his work but
the signature varies. Portrait miniatures
survive
signed 'Roch', 'Roche', 'ROCH',
'S Roche', and 'S. T. Roche', frequently
accompanied by a date.
It seems appropriate to end with
comments, not on Roch's miniature
portraits, by which his achievement will
best be measured and remembered, but
instead by noting his depictions of
Classical and Biblical scenes, and, in a
different mood, his scenes of rustic life.
Roch painted some miniatures inspired
by Classical and Biblical themes, such as
'Bacchante', (Private Collection), the
mildly erotic 'Venus at Her Toilet',
(Private Collection), with its doves and
Italianate landscape, 'Mary Magdalen',
(Private Collection) and 'Salom?',
(Private Collection), in which the
somewhat constraining limitations of
portrait miniature painting with regard
to the sitter's pose, costume and
accoutrement, are
jettisoned
in favour
of a more romantic and untrammelled
effect. Of these, the picture of a
'Cherub' (Private Collection), is one of
the most restrained and effective.
The liveliness of Roch's drawings and
paintings of genre subjects is remarkable.
Those that survive are
mainly peasant
scenes, portraying rustic life with a
unique combination of realism,
caricature and fantasy. These scenes are
generally painted in water colour on
card.
One example of this genre is his
'Rustics Dancing Outside An Inn',
(Ulster Museum). This picture displays
a strong eye for accurate detail, but it is
exuberant, fanciful, and idealized, a
colourful version of peasant revelry.
The strokes are tiny, and white body
colour is used as well as transparent
water colour.
Much of our information about
Roch's artistic preoccupations is drawn
from four of his sketch books which
survive in a private collection in
Ireland. The first, dated 1807, contains
thirty-two sketches of architecture,
landscapes and still life drawings, done
mainly in the Bath area. The second,
dated 1815, contains twenty-five pencil
drawings of English landscapes and
coastal scenes in the County of Devon.
The third, dated 1833, contains thirty
eight ink drawings of sea-scapes, ships
from all parts of the world, and battle
scenes. The fourth is a book of some
thirty sketches of rural life done after
his return to Ireland and taken from
around Counties Cork and Waterford.
These scenes of rustic life display
a
degree of fantasy and wit, of artistic
personality, and a readiness and fluency
in draftsmanship, which would have
enabled him to develop in several
different artistic directions, had claims
on his artistic skills been different.
Paradoxically, this aspect of his work, by
virtue of the differences from, and
similarities, to his main oeuvre, displays
the depth of his understanding and
mastery of the conventions of formal,
commissioned miniature portraiture.
The versatility and facility of Roch's
technique, and the perceptiveness and
humour of his intelligence and eye,
explain his ability to take what could,
for other artists, have been the con
ventional and often uninspiring genre of
miniature portraiture, and to illumine
and revivify it, producing miniatures
whose quality and worth are even more
appreciated today, when the history of
miniature portraiture in Ireland is
apparent, than was the case at the time
they
were
painted.
NOTES OVERLEAF
Paul E.M. Caffrey
-19