Portrait of a Gentleman

Unidentified, Portrait of a Gentleman, ca. 1850, watercolor on ivory, sight 1 ³⁄₄ x 1 ³⁄₈ in. (4.4 x 3.5 cm) rectangle, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund, 1959.7.23

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Artwork Details

Title: Portrait of a Gentleman
Artist: Unidentified
Date: ca. 1850
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: sight 1 ³⁄₄ x 1 ³⁄₈ in. (4.4 x 3.5 cm) rectangle
Credit Line: Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Mediums: watercolor
Mediums Description: watercolor on ivory
Classifications: Painting
Miniature
Subjects: Portrait male — unidentified — bust
Object Number: 1959.7.23
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1959.7.23

Artwork Description

In this miniature the unknown artist emphasized the gentleman’s severe grooming and stern facial features to suggest a serious temperament. The decorative brass frame accentuates the stickpin in his shirt, and both details point to this sitter’s middle-class status in the mid-nineteenth century.