Charming Folk Art Portrait of a Gentleman Dressed for a Jaunt with Hat, Breeches and Stick

THE STORY - Now when I stumbled across this painting at my local Auction House it really was looking very sorry for itself. The frame was absolutely covered in dirt which somehow or other had managed to get into the inside of the glass but thankfully not causing damage to the painting itself, but I found I could not dismiss that dear Gentleman in his hat and breeches, so off he came with me. I took him to the Professional Framers I use regularly who have cleaned up the glass and also put a new mount on as the original one was horribly stained with dirt, as well as a new back. The painting is certainly naive in style and I think is painted with Gouache, (which is almost like a matt watercolour) upon Paper. How I love his face in profile with that strong large nose and what I think must be a wig falling from under his hat. My sense is that the painting itself is quite old, certainly if one considers the dress of the gentleman and certainly if it is indeed a wig he is wearing I would imagine it could be early Victorian and I have a sense that this painting is one that has been saved from a sketch book, maybe the portrait was of a real person or maybe it was a copy of an illustration or painting. But although I am convinced the painting is from the 1800s the black wooden frame certainly isn't. On the back of the Frame was a label for its original Framers that of Gladwell & Co with the address of Cheapsidein the City of London, it seems that this was quite a famous shop and I found out that it moved from its Cheapside address in 1928 to Queen Victoria Street so the frame indeed has some age to it. I have included in the final two photos what the painting looked like when I originally got it, forgive they are less than wonderful as when I took them I did not think I would use them.

AGE - PAINTING - Circa 1835, FRAME - Circa 1925

CONDITION - I have already mentioned the condition I originally found the painting in and the cleaning and restoring I have had done to the frame, I did ask that as much of the original frame that could be saved was, so that string is the original one and I would check its strength before hanging. I do also want to mention that the painting has three creases going across it one across his face, one across his pocket and hand and one across his legs which I hope you can see from the photos, the creases are light but they are there and the paper has definitely darkened with age.

DIMENSIONS - Framed - Height 16" / 41cm, Width 11" / 28cm, Depth 3/4" / 2cm. Image Size - Height 9&1/2" / 24cm, Width 5" / 13cm

So there is my Dear Gentleman, released from the cover of dirt and dust of many a year and who now can be appreciated for his dapper dress as the painting deserves. And I know he carries those three creases across the paper, but in a way for me I think of them as part of the painting as there was a reason why the picture was folded up this way, possibly kept in a box and found at a much later date by a relative who knew the true emotional value of the painting and that is why in the 1920s they chose to have it framed. But of course that is just a guess.