Strangely Remarkable Little Reverse Painted on Glass Regency Silhouette

THE STORY - When I travel around Antique Fairs and Shops, looking for items for my shop, I always buy with my heart, obviously the experience I have garnered through running my shop always comes into play, but often, I am slightly confused by what I see, always ask the opinion of the dealer and then of course come home and do my own research; well this little silhouette was certainly bought with a passion, and I have to say a turn of the head as I struggled to understand what my eyes were seeing. What I am certain of is that this is a little silhouette which has been painted on the back of glass and indeed when one looks at the detail, one can see the scrapping away of the paint to give definition to the clothing and the cap. Underneath the silhouette is what looks like a signature, which one cannot see completely as it is slightly hidden by the frame, and I would imagine this to be the signature of the sitter and not the artist. My instinct strongly tells me that this silhouette would date to the early 1800s, and that is mainly due to the clothing of the sitter, but I have to say I have researched hats of both the Regency and Victorian Period and I can find nothing like the hat this sitter is wearing, but I do think a cap is worn underneath it and that was true of the Regency Period. Sometimes when I look at the silhouette, I think of Naval Costume due to the stripes and the tassels on the shoulders and then I think of the Judiciary when I look at the hat as it reminds me of wigs still worn today in many of today's courts. And then I wonder if I am I wrong in thinking it is a woman, I still think it is but I do have moments of doubt. And when looked through a powerful magnifying glass with a light one can see tiny bits of silver paint which have been added for highlights. I really don't think this was the original frame although it does indeed have some age to it but I do think that this silhouette could of been part of a family group.

AGE - Circa 1810

CONDITION - The silhouette is in very good condition, the glass still clear with no scratches. The frame as I have mentioned is not I believe the original one, it is I believe made of glass and has some form of leather coating over it which has worn, leaving a stipple like effect which I hope you can see from the photos. There is a tear to the brown paper on the back of the frame, which part of me would love to open fully to see if there is any more information I could gleam, but there is no way I am going to do that.

DIMENSIONS (Approx) - Framed - Height - 5" / 12.5cm, Width 4" / 10cm, Depth 1/3"/ 0.75cm. Unframed - Height 2&1/4" / 6cm, Width 1&1/4" / 3.5 cm

I love this curious little silhouette, although I am sure there are finer examples out there this one holds it's own by virtue of it's difference which I think is a good thing.