Pair of Small Oval Format Portraits
#9667PP. Circa:1770, England. This charming pair of small oil on canvas oval format portraits are of James Peter Auriol (1713-1771) and his daughter Charlotte Louisa Auriol (1754-1838), who became Mrs. Thomas Dashwood. The Auriol family were a prominent French Protestant (Huguenot) family. James was born in Castres, Tarn, Midi-Pyrénées, France shortly before his family was exiled and moved to Geneva, Switzerland. James spent most of his life in Portugal and England. He married an English Lady, Charlotte Russell. They had 8 children, including Charlotte. These paintings were probably painted in or around Middlesex England, where the Auriols had settled, in the late 1760’s by an itinerant portrait artist who painted in the French style popular in Britain in the second half of the 18th Century. Small pictures such as this were commonly painted for the wealthy gentry, rising middle class, and military officers.
The back of the paintings reveal that they were relined, re-stretched, and reframed in London after 1832. The oxidation of the wood on the back of the original stretchers, as well as the frame, attest to their age. The back of the canvas itself is marked “Winsor & Newton, 38 Rathbone Place, London, W.” There is a paper label on the back for “W.D. Wilkerson Gilder and Frame Maker, 12 Poland St., Oxford St., London, W.”. The male portrait is identified on the front lower left as "James, Son of John Auriol, Geneva." There is also a hand-written paper label glued to the back of the frame of the female portrait identifying her as Charlotte Auriol, Mrs. Thomas Dashwood. The Regency frames are gold leaf and gilt on gesso on wood.
These exceptionally beautiful and unique portraits are ready to add style and charm to any room and will become treasured possessions as they must have been at one time to the Auriol and Dashwood families. Frame size each: 16.75" tall x 14.5" wide x 1.5" deep. The pair: $3,800.00.
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