Circle of Enoch Seeman,
Polish/English 1689/90-1745-

Portrait of a gentleman, s…

Description

Circle of Enoch Seeman, Polish/English 1689/90-1745- Portrait of a gentleman, seated half-length, wearing a bronze-coloured jacket and a white shirt, in a feigned oval; oil on canvas, 72.7 x 59.6 cm. Provenance: Private Collection, UK. Note: Seeman was a prominent and prolific portraitist who, as court painter to the British royal family, depicted sitters such as George II (1683-1760) and Queen Caroline of Ansbach (1683-1737). The present work was likely painted by an artist familiar with Seeman's portraiture, and recalls works such as Seeman's 'Portrait of a Gentleman, probably the Hon. Montague Blundell', offered by Christie's, London, on 29 November 2023 (lot 131).

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Circle of Enoch Seeman,

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Estim. 2 000 - 2 500 GBP

Spanish school of ca. 1840-1850. "Gentleman. Oil on canvas. With frame of Empire period. Measurements: 91 x 71 cm; 104 x 83,5 cm (frame). In this work we see a typical nineteenth-century portrait, with the gentleman of three quarters in the foreground next to a table of rich mouldings, on which a globe is presented. The gentleman is dressed in a black suit and white shirt with a high collar, and appears to be looking directly at the viewer, although his proud attitude establishes a certain distance from us. He is notable for his carefully trimmed, bushy beard. His upright position indicates the pride the sitter feels in his profession (possibly a cartographer or geographer); the rich clothing and ostentatious interior allude to the high social position he enjoyed, certainly among the most exclusive circles of eighteenth-century Spanish society. The portrait is set against a neutral, dark background from which the figure emerges illusionistically, illuminated directly by a homogeneous light that leaves behind the excessive, chiaroscuro contrasts of light and shade of the previous century. In the 18th century, European portraiture was varied and wide-ranging, with numerous influences and largely determined by the tastes of both the clientele and the painter himself. However, this century saw the birth of a new concept of portraiture that would evolve throughout the century and unify all the national schools: the desire to capture the personality and character of the human being, beyond his external reality and social rank, in his effigy. During the previous century, portraiture had become established among the upper classes and was no longer reserved solely for the court. For this reason, as the 17th and even more so in the 18th century, the formulas of the genre became more relaxed and moved away from the ostentatious and symbolic official representations typical of the Baroque apparatus. On the other hand, the 18th century reacted against the rigid etiquette of the previous century with a more human and individual conception of life, and this was reflected in all areas, from furniture, which became smaller and more comfortable, replacing the large gilded and carved pieces of furniture, to the portrait itself, which came to dispense, as we see here, with all symbolic or scenographic elements in order to depict the individual rather than the personage.

Estim. 2 800 - 3 000 GBP

English school, ca. 1830-1840. "Portrait of a Gentleman." Oil on canvas. Relined. Measurements: 75 x 63 cm. This male portrait of bust represents a middle-aged man and aristocratic bearing. The face, natural and sober, is animated with the hint of a soft smile and has been treated with great delicacy, by means of a brushstroke that melts without leaving evident traces. The starched collar enhances the haughtiness of her features, modeled with a clear light that also brings out the right textures of the pleated blouse. Both the composition, captured in the foreground on a neutral background, and the pictorial execution of this excellent portrait fit the characteristics of the best English portrait painting of the first quarter of the 19th century.

Estim. 2 500 - 3 000 GBP

TASSO, Torquato. The Jerusalem Delivered. London, Tonson and Watts, 1724. 2 folio volumes; 290x230 mm; Full vellum binding with title and gold frieze on gusset on spines; Vol. 1: Pp. [22], 152, [8], 331, [1]; 11 full-page copperplate engravings including an intaglio portrait of the author on the title page engraved by Gerard van der Gucht, the full-page portrait of Tasso is engraved by N. Depuis jun. to a design by Enoch Seeman. Vol. 2: pp. 375, [1], 122, [6]; 10 full-page copperplate engravings. Each plate is accompanied by coats of arms and dedications of English noble families; Vignettes on title pages, large woodcut and copper-engraved headpieces and capilettera. The volume contains "Life of Torquato Tasso written by Gio. Battista Manso Napolitano." Fine copy. Beautifully illustrated English edition of Tasso's masterpiece. Each plate is accompanied by coats of arms and dedications of English noble families. At the beginning of the work we find an extensive biography of the author and at the end, with independent numbering, annotations by Scipione Gentili and other literati of the time, as well as a copious table of indices.Graesse (VII, p. 33); Brunet (V, 666): "Assez belle edition"; Guidi (36/37): "One of the vaguest, most valuable and magnificent editions"; Raccolta Tassiana di Bergamo, 252; Gamba, 948n; Cohen De Ricci, 974. 2 folio volumes; 290x230mm; Full vellum binding with gilt title and ornaments on the spine; Vol. 1: Pp. [22], 152, [8], 331, [1]; 11 full-page copper engravings of which a portrait of the author on titlepage engraved by Gerard van der Gucht, the full-page portrait of Tasso is engraved by N. Depuis jun. based on drawing by Enoch Seeman. Vol. 2: Pp. 375, [1], 122, [6]; 10 full-page copper engravings. Each plate is accompanied by coats of arms and dedications of English noble families; Vignettes on the title pages, large headpieces and initial letters engraved in wood and copper. The volume contains "Vita di Torquato Tasso scritto da Gio. Battista Manso Napolitano ". Good specimen. Splendid, magnificently illustrated English edition of Tasso's masterpiece. Each plate is accompanied by coats of arms and dedications of English noble families. At the beginning of the work an extensive biography of the author and at the end, with independent numbering, annotations by Scipione Gentili and other writers of the time, as well as a copious plate of indexes.

Estim. 300 - 450 GBP

2 fine portraits by an unknown English artist of the early 19th c. "Gentleman with top hat and horse" 1829 and "Gentleman with book" 1822, coloured pencil drawings, each illegibly monogr./dat. below, 21.7x16/24x20cm (w.f. 27x21cm/29x25cm), slightly spotty and signs of age

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