JAMES SCOULER
“Gent in Blue Coat”
An antique watercolour miniature painting of a gentleman by James Scouler (1741-1812). He is wearing a blue coat, black folding collar, white waistcoat, stock and chemise.
Some other examples of works by this artist are included at the end of the photos.
Frame: The miniature is glazed and set within a gold frame, reverse with plaited hair border surrounding oval cartouche, glazed to reveal hair, pearl and filigree work.
Provenance: The late Timothy Clowes Collection. Sotheby’s Colonnade, 20 December 1994, lot #580.
Condition: Good condition.
Measurements: Painting measures 6.1 x 5cm.
Biography: James Scouler was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father was a harpsichord maker and owned a music shop in Edinburgh. The family relocated to London in the 1750s, where James studied at the St. Martin’s Lane Academy and the Duke of Richmond’s Gallery. In 1755, at the young age of 15, he was awarded a premium (a cash award) for drawing by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.
He exhibited at the Incorporated Society of Artists (1761-1768), the Free Society of Artists (1767), and the Royal Academy of Arts (1780-1787).
His miniature portraits were executed in watercolour on ivory, larger portraits in pastels and pencil-drawn portraits. His miniatures are finely painted and his subject’s clothes, in particular, are detailed and often quite colourful.
During the last three decades of his life, he lived on Great Russell Street in London’s posh Bloomsbury district.
£1,500
In stock