England, 18th century / c. 1795
Portrait of a Man
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Portrait of a Man as portrait miniature (England, 18th century · c. 1795).
This piece has a companion in the collection, 1941.562.2 , although their relationship is unknown.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this portrait miniature as watercolor on ivory in a period gold and hair frame and credits Nathaniel Plimer (British, 1757–1822).
The museum's collection notes: The sitter's powdered hair is tied with a dark bow below the shoulders. He has gray eyes and wears a greenish-gray coat, white shirt, and cravat tied in a bow under his chin. The background is very pale, with ivory ground visible, but faintly light blue close to the head. Among the hallmarks of Nathaniel Plimer’s technique was the use of delicate stippling for the shadows of the face and the application of individual dots of paint to create the lower eyelashes. This portrait is probably the pendant to 1941.562.2 . The female portrait is slightly larger than the male, and both date from c. 1795, the date at which a British man would have worn
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtPortrait of a ManOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.