You wonder how I can tell the age of these? Knowing fashion changes over time, for one. The mutton chop sideburns this handsome young Frenchman wears were height of fashion in the 1830s, along with the high color and bowtie cravat. Napoleon behind them, he would have had this painting done somewhere near the reign of Louis-Philippe, a return to the Royalists Class, of which this young man certainly belonged. A tiny gem of a painting, perhaps done for a bride on occasion of their wedding or engagement. The detail these miniaturist artists were capable of capturing on such a tiny 'canvas' is truly astounding, isn't it. Those eyes!
Very good to excellent, still all original with a convex cover glass which has some slight haze or rub - perhaps roughly polished around the perimeter, leaving it very slightly hazy on the outside of the glass, not inside. The portrait is excellent, not a bit of loss nor damage. You can see how thin these wafers were, and the portrait is painted in gouache, a watercolor typically used. These are fun for Bru doll collectors - perhaps this is the longed for boyfriend your doll's dressing table needs. It is not signed, which is the case with most. And we do not know who he was. Just that he lived, perhaps loved, some 200 years ago in France.
