Page 11 - Christmas 2018

signed on obverse, dated and inscribed Ætat 25/ 1747 and ADevis/ ft., gold frame, the reverse engraved with the Tennant coat of Arms
John Tennant, second son of John Tennant of Chapel House, Yorkshire, was baptised on 6th April 1722. He was admitted to St. John's College, Cambridge in 1739 and was called to the Middle Temple in 1745, where he is recorded as Master of the Bench in 1779. He was buried at Conistone in Yorkshire in 1790.
Signed miniatures by Devis are very scarce. Although more famous for his full-scale portraits. Devis painted a small number of miniatures, and described himself as a ''Limner'' as late as 1762. A pair of miniatures depicting Devis and his wife are in the Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston. Whilst unsigned, they have been given to Devis on stylistic grounds. A Lady, signed and dated 1748 was sold Sotheby's, London, 4 December 1985, lot 195. The catalogue for this sale cited the present lot as another example, and notes the unusual fact that it is signed with his surname.
Year
1747.
Medium
oil on ivory.
Signed / Inscribed / Dated
signed on obverse, and inscribed Ætat 25/ 1747 and ADevis/ ft
Provenance
The Albion Collection: Bonhams, 22 April, 2004, lot 25
Literature
S.P.N.F., no.16
Exhibitions
Bath Holburne Museum of Art, Secret Passion to Noble Fashion.,
Edinburgh, Phillips, Secret Passion to Noble Fashion, 16th August-3rd September, 1999 Edinburgh, Scottish National portrait Gallery, The Albion Loan Collection until December 2003
Condition
Minro old scratch to the face
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