Lot 25: Joseph Daniel (British, circa 1760-1803) A Gentleman, half-length, wearing brown coat, cream waistcoat, frilled white shirt cuffs, cravat and powdered wig, his left hand pointing to a wine goblet of water held in his right hand

A Gentleman, half-length, wearing brown coat, cream waistcoat, frilled white shirt cuffs, cravat and powdered wig, his left hand pointing to a wine goblet of water held in his right hand.
Ormolu frame with acorn and foliate motif.
Rectangular, 123mm (4 13/16in) high
Provenance: Purchased in 1972
Exhibited: Pickpocketing the Rich: Portrait Painting in Bath 1720-1800, The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath, 25 June - 15 September 2002, no.67
Portrait Miniatures from the Merchiston Collection, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 23 September – 11 December 2005, no.25
Literature: Daphne Foskett, Collecting Miniatures, 1979, p.254, ill.pl.62
Daphne Foskett, Miniatures: Dictionary and Guide, 1987, p.254, ill.pl.62
Susan Sloman et al., Exhibition Catalogue, 2002, ill.p.95
Stephen Lloyd, Exhibition Catalogue, 2005, p.34-5 and 63, ill.col.pl.10

The scale and three dimensional quality of the present lot make it unique in the output of Joseph Daniel. Given that Joseph worked almost exclusively in Bath, it is not hard to imagine the sitter as a delighted visitor to the Spa town, restored to health by the famous waters. So pleased with his recovery, he appears to be advertising the miraculous properties of the chalybeate waters by drawing the viewer's eye directly to the goblet with his pointing finger. The goblet he holds may well have been made in Bristol since the style is typical of the production there at this period. The format of a Gentleman raising a glass echoes Sir Joshua Reynolds' painting "The Dilettanti Society" of 1777-8, a few years earlier than the present lot.