EARLY 19TH CENTURY ENGLISH SCHOOL / ATTRIBUTED TO CHARLES SHIRREFF (1750-1829)

Portrait miniature of a gentleman in his library. The modish sitter is caught in the act of reading, wears a blue velvet jacket, white silk waistcoat, cravat and buff coloured breeches.

Watercolour on ivory

Rectangular, 8.5 x 7cm

Framed: 17cm x 19cm

This intimate and highly detailed work is attributed to the deaf Scottish miniaturist Charles Shirreff (1750-1829) Shirreff lost his hearing at the age of four and later as a child his father enrolled him with Thomas Braidwood, owner of a school in Edinburgh. Facing the challenge of teaching Sherriff to write, Braidwood found he liked the challenge and devised hand gestures that are recognised today as sign language. Soon after, Braidwood founded Braidwood’s Academy for the Deaf and Dumb, the first such school in Britain.

As a result of this tutoring, Charles managed to enter London’s fiercely competitive art world. In 1769, aged 18, Charles left Braidwood’s Academy to join the Royal Academy Schools in London. Here he received a silver medal when he graduated in 1772. After that he sought his fortune in India and he joined other artists who painted portraits of members of the European community who settled there. His career spanned over a decade after which Shirreff returned to London in 1808/09 and eventually retired to Bath where he spent the last years of his life.

£3,200