Portrait of a Gentleman

Unidentified, Portrait of a Gentleman, ca. 1850, watercolor on ivory, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund, 1959.7.23
Copied 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
Free to use

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
Mediums Description
watercolor on ivory
Classifications
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.