Alexander Melville Portrait of a Mexican Officer c 1865 Oil on Canvas P1186

Alexander Melville (active 1846-1886) was a successful, and occasionally itinerant, British portrait painter who traveled through Europe and the Americas in search of commissions. This gentleman came to us paired with his wife (P1185) from a collector of Mexican art. We had it cleaned and restored, revealing a really first-class  work. Very fine details. Top-flight. Unfortunately the identity of the sitter is unknown, but judging by the quality of the painting, and his wife’s elaborate toilette, he is certain to have been a member of Mexico’s ruling class.

(At one point the portraits were mistakenly thought to have been of Andres Pico and his wife but we have left the label, as we do all identifiers, on.)

24 x 30, framed.