18th C Miniature Portrait, General James Wolfe

18th century oval miniature identified as British General James Wolfe (1727-1759). Ivory with rose floriated gilt brass frame and red leather case. Good condition with vibrant color, lateral crack. Image measures 1.5" x 1.25"General James Wolfe was killed on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec on September 13, 1759. As he became famous only in death, almost all known images of him were rendered posthumously, most notably the famous painting by Benjamin West titled "The Death of Wolfe." This miniature's provenance is limited to a short catalog description (Item 269b) in the New York auction of financier and railroad executive Eli B. Springs (1865-1933) collection sold by the American Art Association-Anderson Galleries in November 1934. The leather case, clearly a later addition, confuses the attribution to Wolfe with the inscription "this miniature came from the house at Bath previously occupied by Wolfe's sister." Wolfe had no sister, only a younger brother who died without issue while in military service. However, Wolfe's fiance, Katherine Lowther, did live in Bath, and he had her miniature rendered by artist Richard Cosway, with him when he died.A case for this image being Wolfe is reinforced by his red hair and the similarity of the "scrawny" appearance to the well known watercolor portrait from life by George Townshend, now at the McCord Museum in Montreal. For a further discussion of Wolfe portraits, see "The Likeness of Wolfe" by J. F. Kerslake as published in "Wolfe, Portraiture & Genealogy" (Quebec: Quebec House, Permanent Advisory Committee, 1959), pp. 17-44.

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