Lot 9: John Butterworth (British, before 1761-c.1820)

A silhouette of the Reverend John Wesley (1703-91), profile to the left, wearing bands, his hair long
painted on card, inscribed beneath the truncation The Revd JOHN WESLEY/ Died March 2d 1791 Aged 88/ Taken from the Life by J.Butterworth Leeds May 1st 1790, hammered brass frame, the reverse with broken trade label and later covering inscribed by/ Father of/ Uncle Butterworth/ who was great great/ uncle of W. R. ****
Oval, 89mm. (3 1/2ins.) high

John was the 15th child of the rector of Epworth, Lincolnshire. After attending Christ Church College, Oxford, he was ordained in 1725 and remained in Oxford, teaching Greek. At university John was part of a small Christian group headed by his brother Charles, which became known as the Holy Club or the Oxford Methodists.
In 1735, the Wesley brothers became missionaries in America. After 3 years in Georgia, John returned to England and settled in Bristol. His passionate sermons upset the local clergy and he found himself banned from their pulpits. To overcome this problem he gave sermons in the open-air and in 1739 Wesley built a Methodist Chapel in Bristol.
Wesley travelled the country, visiting poor neighbourhoods, and spreading the message of God's love to industrial workers or agricultural labourers. He preached that if they loved God, in return, they would "be saved from sin and made holy". Wesley was also vocal about personal morality, warning against the dangers of gambling and drinking. In his sermons he encouraged people to work hard and to save for the future. He encouraged people who had full-time jobs to become lay preachers. This gave working people valuable experience of speaking in public. Later, some of these went on to become leaders of trade unions and reform groups such as the Chartists.
Wesley wrote a large number of books including collections of psalms, hymns and sermons. He also founded and edited the Methodist Magazine. Wesley received over £30,000 in royalties from his writings. This was used for charitable work including the foundation of Kingswood School in Bristol. Wesley and his followers became known as Methodists. By the time John Wesley died in 1791, the Methodist movement had over 76,000 members.

It would appear that Butterworth added the inscription after Wesley's death, 10 months after taking his profile. The present lot shows a much simpler style that is usual for Butterworth, which would have presumably appealed to Wesley's conservative tastes.