The shoulder length portrait of a handsome English gentleman, of middle age, sensitively executed, the sitter being clean shaven and looking out towards the viewer, painted in oils on board to a dark ground, the sitter shown in formal dress of an overcoat with a white collared under garment and cravat and silver pin, the work presented in a thick and good quality moulded gilded frame, and surviving from the third quarter of nineteenth century Victorian England.
Unknown.
As with the ‘selfie’ today, portraits were also a chance for more self-conscious sitters to be depicted in the latest fashions. In the eighteenth century, the upper classes entered a new era of prosperity. No longer the preserve of royalty, commissioned portraits, of oneself or one’s ancestors, became a coveted symbol of wealth and status which continued even more so in the nineteenth century. The portraits took pride of place in the home, or were given to others as gifts.
Very much your classic portrait, a timeless country house staple.
The picture remains in original though unrestored condition with no over-painting and some craquelure and paint fleck loss to the surface with some cracking to the paint. There are some framing scuffs and marks to the edges. The good quality and chunky frame is of the same period but possibly associated and has some small losses.
By appointment only.
