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Item Ref. 4557

FREDERICK CRUICKSHANK (1800-1868)

This is a rather poignant portrait as it was painted in the same year that the nineteen year old sitter, Charlotte Esther Lister, died. Charlotte is depicted wearing a black dress with short puffed-up sleeves known as epaulettes. The neckline is edged with fine white lace and she has a red stole over one shoulder. Shawls of red cashmere were all the rage around this time. Charlotte's blonde hair has been swept up and arranged in tight ringlets.

Charlotte was the daughter of Thomas Lister, a lawyer, and his second wife, Mary (née Grove). Her grandfather, Nathaniel Lister, was the MP for Clitheroe and a noted poet and author. The family lived at Armitage Park, Staffordshire.

Watercolour on ivory signed and dated 'F C / 1827' on the obverse and further inscribed on the reverse 'Charlotte Esther Lister / painted by / F Cruikshank'. The portrait is set in a gilt-metal easel frame with a velvet panel backing and a ring for hanging. Excellent condition.

Portrait Size: 3½ x 2¾" (90 x 71mm)

Price: £1,300

Item Ref. 4502

PINELLI, ITALIAN SCHOOL? circa 1810

This is a beautifully painted portrait of a young girl, about eight to ten years old, with blue eyes and a rosebud smile. She is wearing a simple white dress with a narrow blue ribbon sash on the high waistline. Her brown hair has been swept up and is curled at the nape of her neck.

Watercolour on ivory, indistinctly signed along the edge - P. ?. Pinelli. It is set in a delicate locket-style frame with a chain hanger and is also glazed on the reverse to reveal red silk.

Portrait Size: 45 x 36mm

Price: £1,000

Item Ref. 3231

JOSEPH PASTORINI (1773- 1839)

This well-detailed portrait depicts a rather dandified gentleman with raised eyebrows and a supercilious smile. He is shown in a powdered bag wig worn en queue and tied with black ribbon and is wearing a double-breasted blue coat with gold buttons over a very fine lace cravat.

Watercolour on ivory set in the original gold frame, the reverse with a glazed aperture revealed woven brown hair.

Portrait Size: oval, 66 x 54mm

Price: £875

Item Ref. 4149

SCOTTISH SCHOOL, circa 1810

This is a delightful portrait of a little young boy with blue-grey eyes and a mass of strawberry blonde curls. He is wearing a red and green tartan tunic with a gold sash, trimmed at the collar and cuffs with vandyked white lace. He is set against a blue-green backdrop suggestive of a garden landscape.

The child is from the Graham Family of Kinross House near Perth in Scotland. The house was featured in the BBC TV series The Country House Revealed.

Watercolour on ivory set in a gilt metal frame, the reverse glazed to reveal a single lock of reddish brown hair laid on brown silk. Fine condition.

Size: 27/8 x 23/8" (74 x 60mm) + frame

Price: £1,400

Item Ref. 4666

ENGLISH SCHOOL, early 19th century

This tiny piece (shown alongside a British fifty pence coin to demonstrate just how small it is) represents romantic but secret love. It shows the grey eye of an anonymous lover, so anonymous that it is impossible to say whether it is male or female. The eye is painted on ivory and is set behind crystal in an (untested) gold frame with a decorative border, the reverse engraved and decorated with flowers enamelled in blue and white.

Accompanying the eye miniature and adding to the personal sentiment of the piece, is a second miniature containing a lock of brown hair surmounted by the letter S in gilt metal. It is set in a similar style locket, the reverse of which is decorated with a border in black enamel suggesting perhaps that it was commssioned later as a mourning piece to be worn alongside the eye miniature.

Eye Size: framed, 10/16 x ½" (15 x 13mm)
Hair Locket Size: framed, 5/8 x ½" (16 x 13mm)

S O L D !

Item Ref. 4235

ISAAC WANE SLATER (1784/5-1836)

This is a portrait of a strongly featured gentleman with a dimpled chin and blue eyes, named George Marcy. He appears wearing a black coat, white waistcoat with a standing collar and a deep white stock. His curled hair is brushed forward around his face and he has fashionable bushy side-whiskers.

Watercolour on ivory signed on the obverse I.W.S./7 C. It is further signed on the reverse of the ivory - I. W. Slater/ Frith St. 46/ London. The miniature is set in a silver frame with a blue enamel surround. The frame is hallmarked A.W. for Andrew Wilkie, a Scottish silversmith that worked in Dundee. The reverse of the frame is engraved ' 'George Marcy/ Born 1779/ Died 1863. Fine condition.

Portrait size: 3 x 23/8" (76 x 61mm)

Price: £850

Item Ref. 4255

BRITISH SCHOOL, circa 1830

This pretty portrait portrays a young lady seated on a terrace with a landscape view beyond. She is wearing a lemon silk dress buckled at the waist with a draped bodice creating a heart-shaped corsage with a delicate blue and white lace fill-up. Yellow was a favourite colour for ball gowns during the 1830s. Over one shoulder she has a purple fringed stole. Her brown hair has been swept back and arranged in long ringlets with a narrow black bandeau.

Watercolour on ivory set with a gilt metal surround in a decorative giltwood frame with a beaded border. Fine condition.

Framed size: 55/8 x 4¾" (144 x 122mm)

Price: £600

Item Ref. 4460

ENGLISH SCHOOL, 19th century

This is a finely painted miniature still life of a colourful arrangement of flowers set against a sky blue backdrop.

Watercolour on ivory set in a rose gilt frame. Excellent condition.

Size: 2 x 15/8" (52 x 42mm) + hanger

Price: £375

Item Ref. 2828

ENGLISH SCHOOL, circa 1815

A portrait of a beautiful young Regency lady dressed for the evening in a classical pale pink décolleté gown with a white underslip decorated with a brooch at her corsage, a pearl necklace and large pearl drop earrings. Her hair is arranged in the fashionable ‘à la Madonna’ style with tumbling curls.

Watercolour on ivory set in the original silver oblong frame with canted corners and a solid back. Excellent condition.

Framed size: 33/8 x 2¾" (85 x 70mm) max.

Price: £1,275

Item Ref. 4064

JAMES CLEMENTS, 1839

This miniature profile shows a little girl named Mary Ann Rayer. Mary Ann has short light brown hair and is wearing a white dress with black ribbon bows on the short puffed sleeves and a black ribbon sash on the waist. She also has a black beaded necklace, probably made of jet.

Mary Ann was born on 5 June 1835 so she was four years old when this portrait was painted. Her parents were Thomas and Mary Rayer (née Cooke). She lived at Hill Court, Longdon by Upton on Severn near Worcester.

Watercolour on card signed and dated on the reverse: Mary Ann Rayer/ Hill Court/ Painted by Jas Clements/ Worcester/ July 1839. The portrait is set in a traditional papier-mâché frame with an acorn hanger.

Framed size: 5¼ x 4½" (134 x 112mm)

Price: £200

Item Ref. 4393

MISS TURNER circa 1840

This is an attractive half-length portrait of a young lady dressed for the evening's entertainment in a white gown trimmed with blue ribbon and touches of pink, an ermine wrap over her arms. Her brown hair has been parted in the middle and swept back with long ringlets framing her face.

Unsigned watercolour on ivory housed in a veneered frame with an easel stand on the reverse. Fine condition.

Framed size: 41/8 x 3¼" (108 x 84mm)

Price: £675