£600 - £800
FOLLOWER OF THOMAS HICKEY PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN small full length in black stock, red coat, yellow breeches and waistcoat, his tricorn on a cannon before a tent in Indian landscape with a fort in the distance, a letter in his left hand addressed J Wallerich Bombay, oil on canvas, oval, 44 x 35cm
The sitter, whose identity may be established on removal of the 'strengthening' of the signature would, it seems safe to assume, have either been a civilian of the Bombay Presidency or an Officer of the same in undress. The tent, a reference to service in the field, cannon and fort taken together point to his involvement in some way with a siege operation. There were several such sieges in the first Anglo-Maratha war, 1775-1782, including that of the great fortress of Gwalior in 1780.
The support somewhat brittle possibly as a consequence of damp and with light overall craqueleur, some retouching, the inscription on the envelope strengthened and somewhat indistinct and difficult to decipher, on what maybe the original stretchers and in contemporary or near contemporary gadrooned gilt frame
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24% inc VAT*
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25.8% inc VAT*
