Portrait of a Gentleman

Unidentified, Portrait of a Gentleman, ca. 1780-1790, watercolor on ivory, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mary Elizabeth Spencer, 1999.27.34
Copied Unidentified, Portrait of a Gentleman, ca. 1780-1790, watercolor on ivory, image (oval): 1 1⁄2 x 1 1⁄4 in. (3.8 x 3.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mary Elizabeth Spencer, 1999.27.34
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Portrait of a Gentleman
Artist
Unidentified
Date
ca. 1780-1790
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
image (oval): 1 1⁄2 x 1 1⁄4 in. (3.8 x 3.2 cm)
Credit Line
Bequest of Mary Elizabeth Spencer
Mediums
Mediums Description
watercolor on ivory
Classifications
Keywords
  • Portrait male — unidentified — bust
Object Number
1999.27.34
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1999.27.34

Artwork Description

This portrait was originally attributed to the artist Charles Willson Peale, but research has since proved this not to be the case. We do not know who the artist or the sitter were for this eighteenth-century miniature. The sitter wears a simple white cravat and unpowdered hair, as many colonists did to distinguish themselves from Loyalists.