763 - Portrait miniature, portrait of a young man with sideburns, Biedermeier circa 1830/40

Portrait miniature, portrait of a young man with sideburns, Biedermeier circa 1830/40 Gouache/probably painting panel, mounted on card, unsigned, Biedermeier circa 1830/40, bust portrait of a young man in three-quarter profile looking at the viewer, dark brown curly hair, sideburns, brown eyes, high white stand-up collar with black neckcloth tied in a bow, white shirt with pleated front, black coat with broad collar, background reddish brown, on the right a red area of fabric, condition commensurate with age, edges with losses, rubbed, backing with loss, image 9.5x7.5 cm (HxW), overall 11.5x9.5 cm (HxW) Portrait miniatures were, in the Biedermeier period after 1814 in the German-speaking countries, an artistically and technically demanding luxury good of the bourgeoisie; they served as a substitute for loved ones during their absence and bear witness to the bourgeois image of the family of this period. As portable, intimate keepsakes such portraits were worn on the body and displayed in the home; in the 1830s the miniatures became larger and stronger in colour, and alongside the oval the rectangular format became established. The black neckcloth tied in a bow at the front is the forerunner of the necktie. After the invention of the daguerreotype in 1839 many miniature painters gave up their art because photography took their clientele, and the painted portrait miniature lost its importance.