Lot Essay
The identification of the sitters in supplied by old inscriptions on the backing papers. It is also specified that Joseph Trescot was from Exeter, Devonshire, and died in Charleston, South Carolina.
Louis-Antoine Collas was born in Bordeaux. After studies in Paris, he sent miniatures to the Salon during 1798-1816. From 1803 to 1811, Collas lived in St. Petersburg where he painted members of the Czar's family and by 1816 he was in New York, listed in the city directory as Lewis Collers. From late 1816 until 1818, Charleston newspapers notices attest his presence in Charleston where he painted the present pair of miniatures. After visits to Baltimore in 1818 and Philadelphia in 1819, he returned to New York in 1820. He also worked in New Orleans 1822-1824 and 1826-1829. In 1829 he returned to Bordeaux but finally settled down in Paris where he was last mentioned in 1833.
For other miniatures from his Charleston period, see M. R. Severens, The Miniature Portrait Collection of the Carolina Art Association, Charleston, South Carolina, 1984, pp. 23-25, and S. E. Strickler, American Portrait Miniatures. The Worcester Art Museum Collection, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1989, no. 7. A similar portrait of a lady, of 1816, is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue American Portrait Miniatures in the Manney Collection, New York, 1990, no. 40.
Louis-Antoine Collas was born in Bordeaux. After studies in Paris, he sent miniatures to the Salon during 1798-1816. From 1803 to 1811, Collas lived in St. Petersburg where he painted members of the Czar's family and by 1816 he was in New York, listed in the city directory as Lewis Collers. From late 1816 until 1818, Charleston newspapers notices attest his presence in Charleston where he painted the present pair of miniatures. After visits to Baltimore in 1818 and Philadelphia in 1819, he returned to New York in 1820. He also worked in New Orleans 1822-1824 and 1826-1829. In 1829 he returned to Bordeaux but finally settled down in Paris where he was last mentioned in 1833.
For other miniatures from his Charleston period, see M. R. Severens, The Miniature Portrait Collection of the Carolina Art Association, Charleston, South Carolina, 1984, pp. 23-25, and S. E. Strickler, American Portrait Miniatures. The Worcester Art Museum Collection, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1989, no. 7. A similar portrait of a lady, of 1816, is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue American Portrait Miniatures in the Manney Collection, New York, 1990, no. 40.