Lot 164: Portrait Miniature Attrib. Isaac B. Alexander of South Carolina

Portrait miniature attrib. to Isaac Brownfield Alexander (South Carolina, 1812-1884), watercolor on paper, depicting a middle-aged man with dark hair and high forehead seated on a chair and wearing a dark blue suit and tie with printed vest, gold pin and white shirt. Indistinct background. Signed lower right “I.B. Alexander Pt”. Hand-painted oval border, with the sheet housed under glass in a plain wood frame. A note visible en verso reads “this miniature was painted by a room mate by the name Alexander (a journeyman jeweller) in Duane Street, New York about the year 1835. Thos. Allen.” Image: 4 3/8 in x 3 3/8 in. Sight: 5 3/4 in x 4 5/8 in. Frame: 8 1/4 in x 7 in. Included with this lot is a copy of the Jan/Feb 2012 issue of The Magazine Antiques, which features an article about Alexander by Robert Leath, then then-Chief Curator of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, which has at least one portrait by Alexander (of his daughter) in its collection. A portrait by Alexander of William Irvin Sparkman is in the collection of the Gibbes Museum, Charleston, SC.

PROVENANCE: Private Alabama collection. 

CONDITION: Overall good condition. Toning to paper. Small loss to paper at upper left corner. 1/4 inch stain center right edge of image, in background.