Madame Gÿs-Crepin

Undoubtedly painted for an absent father, this family portrait shows a mother, Madame Gÿs-Crepin, seated with her two young children. Wearing a blue dress with a black spencer, Madame’s hair is secured with a gold comb and decorated with a rope of pearls. Her youngest child, probably a little girl, has a matching blue dress with red bootees and blue beads whilst her son, looking so grown-up in his brown coat and black cravat with a little gold and pearl pin, is proudly holding some sheet music to demonstrate to his father a budding talent and love for music.

The miniature is housed in a decorative gilt metal frame and is inscribed on the cloth backing with the mother’s name and dated 1828.