Continental Portrait Miniatures - Christine Archibald Portrait Miniatures

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Miniatures that are signed and/or dated are noted, as are any inscriptions on backing papers, materials included inside the frames, or items accompanying miniatures. Please email to receive condition details, and to receive photos to download and view on your computer. Catalogue entries may be printed by clicking "print tear sheet."

Officer in Hussar Uniform, Signed by Jean Pierre Henri Elouis, Circa 1800

A rare South American portrait miniature of an officer with brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a red Spanish Hussar regimental jacket with silver frogging and a white cravat, against a sky background. The painting is signed at the lower right: Elouis, and is set in a gold pendant frame with a solid reverse.

Jean Pierre Henri Elouis (1755-1840), was born in Caen, France, but had an international career, and is most strongly identified as an American miniaturist. He studied with Robert Lefevre before moving to London, where he attended the Royal Academy Schools. He exhibited miniatures at the Royal Academy from 1785 to 1787, when he then moved to America. There he practiced in Baltimore, Annapolis, Alexandria, and Philadelphia, where he opened a drawing school, and painted miniatures of President and Mrs. Washington. By 1799 he had left Philadelphia and traveled through Mexico and South America as a draftsman on the German scientist Baron Alexander von Humboldt's expedition, where this portrait is presumed to have been painted. Elouis moved to France in 1807, and there exhibited at the Salon de Paris. Examples of his work may be seen at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Cincinnati Art Museum. No other examples from his trip through South America are presently known.

Dimensions: 3 ¼ x 2 ¾ inches.

Gentleman in Embroidered Coat, by Perpete Evrard, Circa 1725

A Belgian portrait miniature, on vellum, of a gentleman with green eyes, wearing a long powdered wig, a tobacco-colored coat embroidered with flowers, a white shirt and a white cravat, against a sky background. The painting is set in the original octagon shagreen case with a decorated front.

Perpete Evrard (Eurard) (1662-1727), was born in Dinant, Belgium. He executed portraits in oil on canvas and in miniature, and worked at the Madrid and Vienna royal courts. He died in The Hague in 1727. Schidlof says of him: "He was a good miniaturist who sometimes worked in the style of Benjamin Arlaud."

Dimensions: 2 ½ x 2 inches.

Young Lady Holding a Book, Signed by Pierre-Edouard Dagoty, Dated 1837

A charming French portrait miniature of a young woman seated in a wood chair, holding a book, wearing a white dress with a blue belt, and gold earrings, her brown hair in a braided chignon, against a gray background. The painting is signed and dated at the lower left: Dagoty 1837, and is set in the original wood veneered frame, the reverse with marbled paper.

Pierre-Edouard Dagoty (Gautier-Dagoty), (1775-1871), a talented artist, came from a family of artists: his father was Edward Gautier-Dagoty, his grandfather Jacques Gautier-Dagoty, and his daughter Julia Gautier-Dagoty. Called “the Isabey of Bordeaux,” Pierre-Edouard Dagoty was the premier miniaturist of the area, where he practiced for over fifty years. Many of his miniatures are of average size and round shape, but the more scarce ones are larger, as this one is. Examples of his works may be seen at the Louvre, and the Musee des Arts Decoratifs.

Dimensions: Image: 4 x 3 ¼ inches. Frame: 7 x 6 inches.

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The primary references used for the artist biographies on the listings are: Miniatures Dictionary and Guide by Daphne Foskett,
American Portrait Miniatures in The Manney Collection, by Dale Johnson and The Miniature in Europe, by Leo Schidlof.