Thomas Peat Miniature Portrait c1798
Directory: Fine Art: Paintings: Miniatures: Pre 1800: Item # 1347626
Please refer to our stock # a1544 when inquiring.
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A very fine bust-length depiction done in watercolor on organic wafer. The sitter, a nice looking young gentleman, is attired in a blue waistcoat, a tan and red pin-striped vest, and a white cravat. The painting is signed "Peat" at the left edge, and an old inscribed label attached verso identifies sitter as "Lord Halifax II". This attribution of the sitter must be incorrect as the dating of any Halifax lords is inconsistent and much later than when the painting was done.Housed under glass in a period gilt-brass oval frame, the aperture verso with cut-foil gilt "EM" monogram under cobalt.
The condition of the painting is excellent, with no cracks, bowing, or restoration. The wonderful frame is also in superb condition. Sight size is 2 1/2" x 2", and the overall size is 2 3/4" by 2 1/4".
NOTE: Thomas Peat (active 1791 - 1831) was a London-based portraitist, the majority of whose work is in miniature, both painted and enamel. He shared a house with his sister, who also painted portraits and sent them to the Royal Academy. Few biographical details remain about them, though a doggerel poem survives which praises:
In striking likenesses, those talents rare,
With the ingenious Peat few can compare
Peat exhibited at the Academy until 1805 from his London houses, but seems to have been peripatetic, his work being recorded in Bath, Leamington Spa and Bristol.
Peat's works are in the V & A, the British Museum, the Louvre, and other museums.
