Lot 4479: James Peale (1749-1831, American)

dated 1785
Unidentified member of Bealle-Johnson-Bullein-Kelsall family
Depicted facing right, wearing a powdered wig, black coat, vest and white cravat, signed IP 1785, within a 14k gold glazed pendant frame with glazed reverse on a 14k gold chain.
height of image 1 3/4in

Includes copy of letter of authentication from the Peale Family Papers, The National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Lillian B. Miller editor of 'The Peale Family Papers' attributes this miniature to James Peale for several reasons. First the signature, IP with the date below matches his other known portraits. Second, the tentative handling suggests an earlier work. Some of these early characteristics include an angularity of the face and the handling of the hair. By 1786 his brother Charles Wilson Peale felt that James had sufficiently mastered his craft to leave the field of miniature portraiture solely to his brother.