Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 11

Unknown
Portrait of an aristocrat with a precious box, ca 1770, Louis XV enlightenment

circa 1770

$5,200
£3,865.61
€4,525.37
CA$7,272.58
A$8,120.03
CHF 4,235.63
MX$99,847.80
NOK 53,458.88
SEK 50,329.66
DKK 33,759.30
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

What is so wonderful and unusual about this 18th Century portrait is the relatability of the sitter. There is an openness to the world in his gaze, curiosity, a sense of humour, passion - how different from the stiltedness found in so many old master portraits done by lesser hands. Here, we are clearly dealing with a humanist, a thinker. He does not deep it necessary to wear a wig - an accessory on its way to becoming a stuffy status symbol by the 1770s. What else can we tell about him? The discreet verdigris silk of his jacket indicates that he is from the North of France - gentlemen from the Southern regions favoured more colourful dress. Our sitters is also almost certainly an aristocrat, as the "tabatiere" snuff box in his hand appears so precious that it could only belong to a member of the ruling class. Our portrait is unsigned, but has a strong attribution to the Northern French master Celestin Cellier (1745-1793). Numerous works by the artist are in the Museum of Fine Arts of his home town of Valenciennes near the Belgian border and in the Museum of Fine Arts in Tours. Another work attributed to the artist featured recently at an exhibition in the Musée Lambinet in Versailles. Our painting, conserved on its original canvas, measures 64 x 52 cm without its original 18th Century frame.
  • Creation Year:
    circa 1770
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 29.34 in (74.5 cm)Width: 24.02 in (61 cm)Depth: 0.79 in (2 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Good condition commensurate with age. Stable craquelure and marks from the stretcher bars visible on the canvas. Some inpainting visible under UV. Original frame repainted with wear and tear.
  • Gallery Location:
    Norwich, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU991310708262

More From This Seller

View All
Portrait of a Gentleman in a Redingote by student od Jean Louis David drawing
Located in Norwich, GB
An exceptional ink, wash and graphite portrait of a gentleman by Henri-Joseph Hesse, dating from circa 1820, the time of the Bourbon restoration in France. It depicts a dashing figur...
Category

Early 19th Century French School Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Graphite

A young poet or artist, French Romantic period portrait of a sensitive figure
Located in Norwich, GB
You will find this young man good company! It is a pleasure to study his thoughtful, sensitive face. He has a benevolent and real presence. To my mind, he certainly has an artistic nature - he looks like a thinker, poet and/or musician. Dating from what the French call the Romantic Period, the early 1800s, our painting is monogrammed AG and may be attributed to Auguste Glaize. Born in Montpellier, Auguste Glaize studied under the painters Achille Devéria and Eugène Devéria. He came to be one of the great French Romantic painters of the early 19th century, marking his career with important history paintings and cycles of monumental religious...
Category

1830s Romantic Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

The Dandy a Salon in Paris 19th Century portrait of a young man French painting
Located in Norwich, GB
A wonderful depiction of a dapper Parisian dandy, dating from 1848. I love his air of decadence! It is a work by F de Korff, a mysterious French aristocratic portrait artist who had ...
Category

Mid-19th Century Academic Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Letter, young lady in her boudoir 19th Century majestic miniature painting
Located in Norwich, GB
A majestic miniature painting by Victor Mongodin. Painted with extraordinary detail, it depicts a pretty young lady writing a letter in her boudoir. Mongodin clearly delights in painting fabrics... the silk of her skirt, the cotton of her camisole, as well as the luxurious velvets of the curtains and drapery. And then there is the mystery: who is she writing to? Born in Vire in Normandy in 1819, Victor Mongodin had studied with de Rudder. Working in the French Capital...
Category

1860s French School Interior Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

The young Bostonian 1858 portrait of a notable gentleman Boston Massachusetts
Located in Norwich, GB
A wonderful portrait of a Bostonian dated 1858, by Leopold Grozelier, the artist best known for creating the first electoral poster ever, bearing the portrait of Abraham Lincoln (186...
Category

1850s American Realist Portrait Prints

Materials

Paper, Laid Paper, Lithograph

French 19th Century Romantic Period 1830s Paris Society Beauty Portrait
By Adele Grasset
Located in Norwich, GB
A astounding portrait of a society beauty by Adele Grasset (active ca 1830-1850). With an open face and and lightly smiling lips, she is wearing a gown typical of the romantic period. Drawn in graphite and heightened with white, the drawing is dated 1836 As often with woman artists of the 18th and 19th century, there is little biographical information available on Adèle Grasset. We do know however, that she had studied with the highly prominent artist François Gérard (1770-1837) , known also as the Baron Gérard...
Category

1830s Academic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Gouache

You May Also Like

Portrait Of A Scholar, Oil On Framed Canvas, 18th Century
Located in MARSEILLE, FR
Portrait of a scholar, standing, in indoor attire, his hand resting on a large book (with a title that seems to be written in Hebrew?) Oil on canvas from the 18th century, probably ...
Category

Antique 18th Century Italian Louis XVI Paintings

Materials

Paint

18th Century Portrait of a Gentleman French School Man Oil on Canvas Blue White
Located in Sanremo, IT
Painting, oil on canvas, measuring 92 x 75 cm without frame and 102 x 87 cm with frame depicting a nobleman of the French school of the first half of the 18th century. In its formal...
Category

Early 18th Century French School Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of a Gentleman, 18th Century Oil Painting
By Anton von Maron
Located in London, GB
Oil on canvas Image size: 20 x 24 inches (51 x 61 cm) Period gilt frame This is a half-length portrait of a gentleman wearing a emerald coat and intricately designed waistcoat, dat...
Category

1760s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of Monsieur Aubert, a ceremonial portrait by Nicolas de Largillière
By Nicolas de Largillière
Located in PARIS, FR
Provenance : Arnold S. Kirkeby (1901-1962) Donated by Arnold S. Kirkeby to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1955, where it remained until its sale at Sotheby's, New York on Ja...
Category

1720s Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Baroque Portrait of a gentleman 18th century Italian master by Domenico Parodi
By Domenico Parodi (Genoa, 1672 - 1742)
Located in Stockholm, SE
We are grateful to Prof. Daniele Sanguineti for suggesting the attribution to Domenico Parodi (1672 - 1742). He dates the painting into the period between 1730 and 1740. Domenico Par...
Category

1730s Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait Of A Man From The Louis XVI Period Pastel From The End Of The 18th C.
Located in Bilzen, BE
A pastel portrait of a noble man in its original frame, end of the 18th century, Unsigned 47 x 55 cm
Category

Antique 18th Century French Louis XVI Paintings

Materials

Wood, Paper