Gentleman 1779 - 1851

Thomas Birch painted this portrait of a ‘Gentleman’ using watercolor on ivory. It’s difficult to say for sure when it was made. But we can still learn a lot about the social function of this kind of artwork. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, portrait miniatures were popular among the middle and upper classes in both Europe and America. They acted as keepsakes, tokens of affection, and markers of social status. A portrait could signify familial and professional connections, and solidify social bonds. We can ask to what extent the art market—and the institutions that supported it—were open to artists from different backgrounds. Birch was an English-born American artist, and his body of work includes portraits, landscapes, and marine paintings. The nuances of patronage and artistic career paths can reveal a lot about the social dynamics of the time.