(PORTRAITS)

(PORTRAITS)
Pair of miniature portraits, evidently of an Orthodox husband and wife, very finely painted and encassed behind glass.
Watercolor on ivory within chased gold and cut-glass matching octagonal frames.
2 x 2.5 inches (portrait) set within 4 x 4.5 inch frame.
Central Europe, early 19th-century:
<< Most uncommon finely painted pair of portraits of an observant husband and wife of a classic, traditional appearance.>>===This distinguished couple - as yet unidentified - have a noble appearance and are attired in traditional dress. The lady wears the classic garb of a well-to-do, Orthodox, Aschkenazic woman. Particularly characteristic is her head-covering, featuring the sterntichel customarily worn by Central and East European Jewish women on the Sabbath and Festivals. Her husband has a tall yarmulke skullcap upon his head. He wears a long beard as expected of the Othodox, but it is here neatly combed and his moustache trimmed. Peeking beneath his formal frock-coat appears a white cravat.===The artist is unidentified, yet his work is clearly of the highest standards. Needless to say the man man and his wife were people of means in order to commission a fine artist to paint their portraits.