A leisurely linear walk of many deliberate stops and starts over the great whale-back of ‘Great Nodden’ —— and back again —— Saturday, 10th. September 2022. . .An uninterrupted view westwards from the slopes of Great Nodden —— over a swath of purple Heather to Bodmin Moor in the distance. . .And later, awestruck by Jupiter —— and September’s Harvest Moon over Arms Tor —— rising East of ‘Great Nodden’. . .A partial Sun-dog or Parhelion appeared in the late afternoon sky; indeed it was the second Sun-Dog I’d seen above Dartmoor in less than two weeks. I believe witnessing a Sun-Dog is ever a good sign!

In 1847, the Brontë Sisters saw a full parhelion above Haworth Moor – probably like this one witnessed in 1860 by “Revd E Meyrick”. . .

The Brontë Sisters’ dearest friend, Ellen Nussey —— whom Charlotte called, “My Kindred” because she was like a sister to Charlotte —— witnessed the celestial phenomenon too; she remarked that ‘The Three Suns’ were Charlotte, Emily and Anne.

So whenever I see a hint of a parhelion —— I naturally think that the Brontë Sisters are telling me that I’m on the right track; I definitely was last Saturday. . .

Immediately before setting off for Dartmoor that very same afternoon, I secured a new ‘Bonnet’ for ‘The Collection’! —— tangible evidence that bears a significant date “1825”.

What this date means is that the exact Bonnet ‘type’ portrait existed during the late Georgian period when the Brontë Sisters were aged only nine, seven and five respectively. My latest ‘Bonnet’ acquisition is not a portrait of Emily Brontë for sure —— it can’t possibly be —— but the subject does prove that the exact Bonnet ‘type’ portrait was in circulation during the Brontë Sisters’ lifetimes. . .

It’s evidently clear from these wonderful illustrations that Charlotte Brontë had a very definite picture in her head when she wrote —— “a broad-brimmed gipsy hat, tied down with a striped handkerchief under the chin”. Or put another way, Charlotte Brontë knew the Bonnet ‘type’ portrait; it’s so obvious from the picture she painted of the Gypsy ‘woman’ —— only in HER words. For those unfamiliar with the story-line of ‘Jane Eyre’ —— the Gypsy woman is in fact Mr. Rochester dressed-up in women’s clothes! Maybe another reason for the prejudice that exists —— and persists —— towards the ‘Bonnet Portrait of Emily Brontë’. The Brontë expert that judged the pencil portrait in 2019 —— described it as a “grotesque” drawing which was/is neither true nor fair, let alone constructive or unbiased. Needless to say, the Brontë Establishment don’t like ‘The Bonnet’.

And remember, there was no ‘Google Images’ or ‘Google Lens’ back in the late 18th and early 19th centuries!!! —— so my latest ‘Bonnet’ portrait can only have been copied from a publication such as a book, magazine or newspaper of the period. I deduce this because there’s an exact same original copy of the “1825” ‘Bonnet’ in ‘The Official Bonnet Collection’; it bears a truly minuscule date “1837” —— that’s only visible with magnification. . .

This surely confirms that the Bonnet ‘type’ portrait was reproduced in ‘black and white’ as an engraving —— and would have been in circulation at the time the Brontë Sisters were still young children —— let alone when they were young adult copyists! Otherwise, how else can one explain how two almost identical portraits —— dated twelve years apart —— were painted by two different hands in the early part of the 19th century?My latest discovery is provenance of a sort —— because it takes the 1894 photogravure that appeared in the ‘Woman at Home’ magazine back to a period in time when the Brontës were alive, actively copying engravings.

The Editor-in-Chief of the ‘Woman at Home’ was none other than the man who saw the ‘lost’ portrait of Emily Brontë drawn by Charlotte in 1879. His name was Sir William Robertson Nicoll. 

Come early adulthood, Charlotte’s serious intention was to be a portraitist. She skillfully painted in watercolour but her pencil sketches were her forte! She honed her skill with a graphite pencil by meticulously copying published engravings. Many of her drawings (and paintings) as featured in the official catalogue raisonné ‘The Art of The Brontes’ compiled by Christine Alexander and Jane Sellars —— are meticulous copies of published engravings by listed artists; Charlotte was essentially a copyist. Meticulously copying engravings was what Charlotte was at —— yet evidently too according to the catalogue raisonné —— she very often personalised her portraits in order to make the subject matter her own. Many of Charlotte’s artworks are lifted from published works of the period, such as Byron’s Poetical Works. In my field of Brontë study, it’s an interesting exercise to compare and spot the subtle differences that Charlotte made.  Here are some of Charlotte’s copies and the original engravings that they were so obviously copied from. . .

There’s a watercolour painting in ‘The Official Bonnet Collection’ too —— that I attribute to the meticulous hand of Charlotte Brontë —— it’s a copy after Sir Thomas Lawrence’s portrait of vicar’s daughter Emily Anderson, otherwise called, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. . .

All the pieces of the ‘Bonnet’ puzzle I have gathered together thus far —— leave me in no doubt whatsoever that the pencil portrait that I have identified as the long ‘lost’ portrait of ‘Emily Brontë’ —— as seen by Sir William Robertson Nicoll in Haworth in 1879 —— is an original artwork by Charlotte Brontë. I propose Charlotte copied her interpretation of the Bonnet Portrait ‘type’ from the exact same source that my latest acquisition —— that’s clearly dated verso “1825” —— was copied. Or just maybe the 1825 ‘Bonnet’ is the original ‘Bonnet Portrait’ that started the ‘Bonnet Line’ from which Charlotte’s pencil portrait of ‘E M I L Y’ is ascended! 

The “1825” version (framed) and the “1837” version are virtually one and the same painting —— including in size —— its like they were traced one from the other —— but more probably copied from an engraving in a book, newspaper or magazine.

The true Bonnet Portrait; namely the long ‘lost’ pencil portrait of Emily Brontë drawn by Charlotte is genuine. Charlotte’s ‘Bonnet Portrait’ of Emily even bears the sitter’s name ‘E M I L Y’ —— plus a minuscule artist’s signature “C BRONTË”. This is exactly what I mean when I say Charlotte personalised her otherwise meticulous copies. 

Turning again to Saturday’s Sun-Dog sighting in relation to our dearly departed Queen —— and those reassuring, heaven-sent rainbows that appeared simultaneously over Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle following the announcement of her death on Thursday, 8th September 2022 —— I believe they were no coincidence either! Our gracious Queen ‘left the room’ —— she left her beloved castle(s) —— she departed this mortal life —— but in true Queen Elizabeth II style she sent us ALL ‘one’ everlasting message of Hope🌈

I believe Saturday’s hint of a Sun-Dog was a ‘little’ celestial nod in the right direction from those same ‘Three Suns’ that Ellen Nussey described. . .

To this day, the Brontë Sisters’ literary legacy shines ever brightly. . .

However, my ‘chosen’ area of Brontë study isn’t their novels but ‘The ‘lost’ portrait of Emily Brontë’ ——informally called ‘The Bonnet’!!! The portrait ‘type’ was wrongly cast out a century ago and has remained a grey area ever since. The Bonnet ‘type’ Portrait remains broadly unloved, unrecognised and undervalued.

The pencil portrait has taught me to ‘read’ Charlotte’s hand from a totally non-literary perspective; as in I know that Charlotte’s secret ‘WordArt’ is key to it’s authentication —— if only the Brontë Establishment would stop fooling themselves that they can’t see ‘E M I L Y’ in the folds of the sitter’s cloak. . .

That all said and done, Charlotte’s novels ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Shirley’ contain helpful clues about the identity of Charlotte’s very personalised pencil version of the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ too —— see this earlier post: http://somethingaboutdartmoor.com/2020/05/22/charlotte-bronte-novelist-portraitist-poet-weaver/

The truth —— the evidence —— exists in the pencil portrait itself.

The Sun-Dog’s appearance confirmed to me that I’d made the right decision to buy another piece of the ‘Bonnet’ puzzle earlier that same afternoon even though I couldn’t well afford to buy it! My conviction in the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ is absolute —— indeed, it’s like this Bible quote says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

And though the hierarchical Brontë Establishment frown witheringly on my ‘Bonnet’ research and refuse to open their minds —— eyes —— and hearts —— to the truth that the pencil drawing is the true ‘lost’ portrait of Emily Brontë, drawn by Charlotte —— as seen by Sir William Robertson Nicoll in Haworth in 1879 —— there’s someone ‘up there’ much, much higher who knows that what I say about ‘The Bonnet’ is right. Maybe last Saturday’s Parhelion was a sign from Sir William himself!🌈 

It’s worth remembering too, that Martha Brown who was the original keeper of the ‘lost’ portrait of Emily Brontë, told Sir William Robertson Nicoll that the pencil portrait that she owned —— and that was ‘lost’ following her death in 1880 —— was a good likeness of Emily.

I say to Non-Believers of ‘The Order of the Bonnet’ —— Science will one day prove that the pencil portrait is genuine. So please believe me when I tell you that there’s so much more to Charlotte’s, Branwell’s, Emily’s and Anne’s Art in the form of thousands of teeny-weeny numbers —— if only the experts could be persuaded to listen and to look!!! It would make a wonderful episode for the BBC’s [“Fake or Fortune”] particularly as I clearly remember Fiona Bruce saying in series 4, episode 3 —— “A Mystery Old Master” that one of her favourite novels is ‘Jane Eyre’. Oh how I wish for Fiona Bruce to get her teeth into ‘The Bonnet’ —— but I digress!!! 

As it was Charlotte who famously described her sister Emily as a “homebred country girl” —— is it any wonder that Charlotte used the Bonnet ‘type’ portrait as a template to capture the essence of ‘E M I L Y’ as she saw her? If that was the way that Charlotte perceived her own sister the hat surely fits —— nay the bonnet fits!

There are many Emily Brontë aficionados who view Charlotte’s description of her middle sister, Emily —— as a “homebred country girl” —— as an unforgivable besmirchment of Emily’s literary prowess. That ‘superior’ older sister, Charlotte —— should brand the genius author of ‘Wuthering Heights’ as some sort of rustic —— only adds to the very real bias that exists against ‘The Bonnet’.  

It really ought not be too hard to visualize Emily as an essentially hat and cloak ‘type’ person. After all, her spiritual transcendence was reached through purposefully roaming over the moors in all weathers —— or through doing domestic chores —— such as baking bread, peeling potatoes, and bringing in a faggot for the hearth. . .

Any suggestion that a “broad-brimmed gipsy hat, tied down with a striped handkerchief” under your chin —— somehow obstructs the wearer’s ability to put mind over matter —— ought to go try one for size; it’s really quite liberating!

I think Emily’s home-loving nature and wild-side  inspired Charlotte to create a portrait that’s got Emily’s intrinsicness literally written right through the heart of it! Emily’s only novel ‘Wuthering Heights’ is set in the very time frame when the ‘Gypsy Hat’ fashion was at it’s height —— in the latter half of the Georgian era. . .

Another reason perhaps —— why Charlotte might have been inspired to create a portrait of Emily that reached back into the 18th century.   For enlightenment, take another long, hard look at this 1787 engraving of Samuel Woodforde’s ‘Wood-Nymph’ next to ‘The Bonnet’. . .  

Try to view the pencil portrait of ‘E M I L Y’ through Charlotte’s eyes —— instead of how you’ve been conditioned to view it by the Brontë Establishment who have poured scorn on the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ of Emily Brontë for more than a century —— by wrongly branding it a fake portrait but with no sound reason(s). I can assure you dear reader on behalf of the person that drew it —— that it isn’t fake.

My next post about ‘The ‘lost’ Portrait of Emily Brontë’ aka ‘The Bonnet’!!! —— will simply chronicle all my ‘Bonnet’ related finds-to-date and it will be titled: Q.“Magic mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest ‘Bonnet’ of all?”

---

A few more magical captures from Dartmoor —— Saturday, 10th September 2022. . .

---