Portrait of a Gentleman

Unidentified, Portrait of a Gentleman, ca. 1850, watercolor on ivory, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. C. H. Roper, 1963.11.6
Copied Unidentified, Portrait of a Gentleman, ca. 1850, watercolor on ivory, sight 2 7⁄8 x 2 3⁄8 in. (7.3 x 6.0 cm) oval, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. C. H. Roper, 1963.11.6
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Portrait of a Gentleman
Artist
Unidentified
Date
ca. 1850
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sight 2 7⁄8 x 2 3⁄8 in. (7.3 x 6.0 cm) oval
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. C. H. Roper
Mediums
Mediums Description
watercolor on ivory
Classifications
Subjects
  • Portrait male — unidentified — bust
Object Number
1963.11.6
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1963.11.6

Artwork Description

The gentleman in this miniature embodies the nineteenth-century middle class. The elaborate cravats and collars of the first few decades in the nineteenth century gave way to this “uniform” of a bourgeois gentleman, groomed and sitting stiffly for his portrait. The leaf-patterned frame suggests that this miniature was painted for the man’s wife or sweetheart, and if so, the sitter would have wanted to present himself as a suitable “catch.”