This is an American portrait miniature, c.1820-30s, housed in a more typically American oyster-shaped locket frame with a smaller aperture in back side into which a long braided lock of chestnut or auburn hair is housed. This handsome gentleman seems darker brunette, so perhaps it carries a lock of his true love's hair. Sometimes given as a gift or token of love, it might well be. We don't know his name, and the artist didn't sign this superb miniature, but he's been in my own collection now for decades, in that blue embroidered vest and with his watch chain tucked in, his elongated lapel as fixed in time as his gaze. Isn't he fabulous! Perhaps you will recognize the work as a certain artist. If so, please email me.
Very good condition for age and type, but he is not quite perfect. From most angles of view he seems to be, but there is a fine tight hairline to the right of his face that traverses nearly half the height of the wafer. A small chip or flaw upper left, about the 10 o'clock position, which disappears almost completely beneath the frame. Still, those disappear most of the time, showing more with the greatly enlarge digital images. A very fine small painting, remember his face is only 3/4" from chin to hairline. Case is brass, not gold, very pretty both front and back, with a rise of guilloche work culminating in that locket with its beveled glass and braid. Measurements noted directly on our photos.
