SKINNER American Furniture & Decorative Arts

203
203.
Possibly Robert Field (American, born England, c. 1769-1819)
Portrait Miniature of Thomas Jefferson, c. 1800. Unsigned.
Watercolor on ivory, oval bust-length portrait, 2 1/2 x 2 in., in an oval
gilt-brass pendant case, the reverse with blue glass border surrounding
an oval aperture containing plaited locks of blond and brown hair
overlaid with “TJ” cipher in gilt foil, further housed in a silk-lined oval red
leather case.
Note: Robert Field, the prominent American miniaturist and engraver,
painted Thomas Jefferson (likely from life) in a small watercolor done
around 1797, and in 1807 created an engraving of Jefferson after
Gilbert Stuart’s famous portrait. No documentation exists that shows
Field painted Jefferson in miniature on ivory, but according to Field
scholar Harry Piers, there does exist a miniature in oil inscribed in
another hand “Jefferson. After Stuart by Robt. Field. Also engraved by
R.F. Died in 1819.”
$50,000-70,000
204.
French/Continental School, Early 19th Century
Portrait Miniatures of a Gentleman and Two Boys, c. 1805.
Unsigned. Watercolor on ivory, oval portraits, the gentleman 2 1/2 x
2, the two boys 1 1/4 x 3/4 in., mounted in a single gilt-brass pendant
case, the gentleman on one side, the boys in two windows on the
reverse, the interior of the case contains a lock of blond hair. Condition:
Good, minute paint loss to gentleman u.l.
$1,000-1,500
204, with reverse view
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