James H. GIllespie Portrait Miniature of a Gentleman

Portrait of a Gentleman
James H. Gillespie (British/American, 1793-ca 1849)
early 19th century
Watercolor
Housed in under glass in period frame
Visible 2 1/8 x 2 7/16 in.; Overall 5 1/8 x 6 in.

A profile bust-length portrait of a gentleman with a beard but no mustache. In the distinctive style of portraitist James H. Gillespie who employed the distinctive background of stippled rust-brown over blue at the lower edges of the portrait oval. He began his career in London, Edinburgh, and Liverpool in the 1820s before traveling across the Atlantic. He appears in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1829 and moved south, producing works in New York, Baltimore (1837), and Philadelphia (1838)

Condition: some losses to frame veneer, period frame backing removed, secured with modern tape.

[Portrait miniature, Art, Folk Art]