拍品专文
John Tennant (1722-1790), second son of John Tennant of Chapel House, Yorkshire was baptised on 6 April 1722, he was admitted at St. John's College, Cambridge in 1739 and was called to the Middle Temple in 1745 and is recorded as Master of the Bench of the Middle Temple in 1779. He was buried at Conistone in Yorkshire in 1790.
Portraits of this size by Devis are are unusual but it is a format that he experimented with. The Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston has a self-portrait of Devis and his wife painted on copper of the same size which is attributed to Devis stylistically and on the basis of an inscription on a backing card holding the work in its frame in an early 19th Century frame which reads 'Arthur Devis An oil portrait on copper mar 17' (Exhibition catalogue Polite Society by Arthur Devis 1712-1787, Portraits of the English Country Gentleman and his Family, Preston and London, 1983-84, pp. 68-69).
The fact that the present miniature is signed by Devis makes this work particularly rare and interesting.
We are grateful to Dr. Ellen d'Oench and Dr. Brian Allen for confirming the attribution from a transparency.
Portraits of this size by Devis are are unusual but it is a format that he experimented with. The Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston has a self-portrait of Devis and his wife painted on copper of the same size which is attributed to Devis stylistically and on the basis of an inscription on a backing card holding the work in its frame in an early 19th Century frame which reads 'Arthur Devis An oil portrait on copper mar 17' (Exhibition catalogue Polite Society by Arthur Devis 1712-1787, Portraits of the English Country Gentleman and his Family, Preston and London, 1983-84, pp. 68-69).
The fact that the present miniature is signed by Devis makes this work particularly rare and interesting.
We are grateful to Dr. Ellen d'Oench and Dr. Brian Allen for confirming the attribution from a transparency.