Figure 1.--Here we see a portraut by an unidentified Scottish artist. We believe the boy was Scottish and the portrait was painted in the 1840s

We have also found some paintings by unknown Scottish artists. We have a portrait of what looks like a Scottish boy by an unknown artist which is probanly a Scottish artist. The backgrond, faces, and clothing are all helpful in identifying these paintings. Scottish clothing is helpful asit is destinctive, however, boys in other countries also wore Scottish clothing.

Unidentified Aetist (Scotland, 1840s?)

Here we have a watercolor of an unidentified boy painted in a mountenaous landscape. It is a well painted watercolour portrait of who we believe to be Scottish boy. The sitter is shown seated on a mountainous rock ledge with landscape beyond.The boy wears a black frock coat, belted at the waist, with long trousers beneath and a white wide collared, frilled, tunic. To his right is a tam'o' shanter with a welt of tartan, which is probably his family tartan. This is the primary reason we think tghe boy is Scottish. There is no doubt that this is a wealthy young man to have a portrait with such a lavish setting and the landscape is probably owned by his family. Unfortunately there are no external clues to the identity of the sitter.

Unidentified Scottish Artists (Scotland, 1854)

Here we have a portrait of Jo... Gordon Downhill. He stands on a landscape background, holding a book in his hand. He is seen inside a painted oval. His jacket or sweater-like garment is rather curious. We have nrever seen a garment like this before and are unsure just what it is. He seems to be dressed in a kilt and he holds a hat (probably a Glengarry) in his left hand. He has a friendly and open expression. The fact that he had his portasit painted suggests that he came from an affluent family, although the fact tghat it is not done by a master artist probably means that the family was not wildly worn. The artist is an unidentified British painter. The painting is unsigned, but has an old inscription on the reverse: "Jo..Gordon Downill born Wednesday 4th May 1843. This painting done by Mr. Be... nov. 1854". We believe that the boy is probably Scottish, Queen Victoria promoted the fashion of dressing boys in kilts during the 1840s, so he could bre Scottish. I'm not sure if Downhill is an English or Scottish name, but the background seems Scottish to me. It shows that English or more probably Scottishg boys were wearing kilts in the 1850s.

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Created: 4:36 AM 12/10/2004
Last updated: 4:36 AM 12/10/2004