A Regency Squire

Painted in Henry Jacob Burch’s distinctive style against a sunset background, this gentleman looks assured and poised. Wearing a double-breasted coat with brass buttons over a white waistcoat and knotted stock, he gazes steadily at his audience. His ruffled hair and side-whiskers were the fashion of the 1810s.

The portrait is in fine condition and is set in a 9ct gold frame, the reverse with monogrammed gold initials TB (or TSB) laid on foiled blue glass.

New research has revealed that Henry Jacob was born in 1762 and so was seventeen years old when he entered the Royal Academy Schools. He married Elizabeth Beresford in December 1784 at the Paris Church of St Marylebone. The land tax records of 1789 list him as a seal engraver working with an apprentice in Soho so miniature painting was probably not his main source of income. He exhibited miniatures between 1787 and 1834.