Sir George Ramsey

Richard Crosse kept a ledger in which he recorded the payments received for portrait miniatures completed between 1776 and 1798 so it is known that he painted two portraits of Sir George Ramsey, the sitter shown in this miniature. The first was paid for in May 1785, the second in November 1786. Crosse’s miniatures ranged upwards in price from £8 8s for his smallest size; Ramsey’s portraits, being larger, were £12 12s each.

Depicted in a powdered wig with buckles (rolled curls) and a queue, Sir George is wearing a medal strung on red ribbon. Oddly neither the nature of the medal nor the sitter’s details have as yet been traced.

The portrait resides in the original gold frame with a seed pearl surround, the reverse with bright cut engraving featuring an aperture of hair within a narrow blue enamel border. An old brooch pin has been removed.

A native of Devonshire, Richard Crosse (1742-1810) was born deaf and dumb, as was one of his sisters. He began painting miniatures as a hobby and in 1758 won a prize at the Society of Arts that inspired him to study art. He became a successful artist and built up a distinguished clientele that included royalty.  He fell in love with his cousin, Miss Cobley, but she did not reciprocate and married elsewhere, the disappointment reportedly turning him into a misanthrope. Due to his disability Crosse painted with heightened sensitivity to his sitter’s character to create meticulously rendered portraits.

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