Victorian English School Oil Portrait Painting of British Redcoat Military Officer in Antique Gesso Frame

Fine Portrait Painting of British Redcoat in Ornate Gilded Gesso Frame for your consideration. The framed painting measures approx. 12 3/4 inches X 14 3/4 inches and approx. 3 1/4 inches deep. Painting measures approx. 7 inches X 9 inches. English School, 19th Century, circa 1860-1870s. Georgian-style. Cabinet-sized painting depicts a British military officer or gentleman in a scarlet red coat with a silk sash and white cravat, heavily inspired by the romanticized aesthetic of 1770s Revolutionary War-era uniforms.

The painting is housed in its highly dramatic, deeply molded, and ornate antique gesso/composition frame. This piece offers a striking, instant “ancestral country house” or “dark academia” aesthetic perfect for an executive office, library, or gallery wall.

The reverse of the raw linen canvas features a crisp, authentic 19th-century manufacturer’s stencil reading: “PREPARED BY WINSOR & NEWTON, 38, RATHBONE PLACE” dating this piece between the 1860s and 1870s.

The wooden frame reverse bears a later handwritten collector or dealer inscription reading “English Georgian 1820” alongside an old estate or auction inventory registry code “UXC 172 LEE”. While the inscription assigns a late Georgian date based on the subject’s style, the physical canvas attributes it beautifully to the Mid-Victorian era as a historical homage piece.

Good antique condition. Shows wear commensurate with age. The canvas remains securely stretched on its original 19th-century wooden expandable stretcher bars. Ultraviolet (blacklight) examination reveals areas of historical restoration and overpainting/touch-ups scattered across the red coat, face, and background dark areas, undertaken over its lifetime to stabilize normal age wear. Surface shows a fine, stable craquelure consistent with age. The deep, ornate gesso frame is structurally stable and retains an exquisite, authentic aged patina. As typical with heavy 19th-century gesso frames, there is generalized minor chipping, cracking, and areas of missing detail/flaking, which only enhances its authentic antiquarian charm.

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