A French portrait miniature of a gentleman decorated with medals

A French portrait miniature of a gentleman decorated with medals

Gouache on ivory bust of a man facing left, wearing the Prussian order of the Red Eagle and the cross of Charles III of Spain. Signed and dated "J. Guérin f" right edge. Ivory slightly warped, vertical crack on the left. 9.5 x 7.5 cm. In the original ormolu frame.
Jean Urbain Guérin, Paris, 1818.

The sitter is probably the Prussian diplomat Heinrich August Alexander Wilhelm von Werther (1772 - 1859), who was appointed to the Spanish court in 1814 and held office there until 1821.

Certificate

Marketing authorisation for ivory is available (DE-S-0507-23).

Provenance

Lempertz Cologne auction 555 on 24 November 1976, lot 51.
Sotheby's Geneva auction on 21 May 1992, lot 43.Fpr this
Rhenish private collection.

Literature

For this artist see Schidlof, The Miniature in Europe in the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, Graz 1964, vol. I, p. 318 f.
Cf. Lemoine-Bouchard, Les peintres en miniature actifs en France 1650 - 1850, Verona 2008, p. 272 f.