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The unknown sitter's shoulders are turned to the right, and he is painted almost full face. He wears a bright blue velvet coat with covered buttons, deep yellow embroidered waistcoat, and white stock collar with double lace frill down the front. His powdered wig falls to his shoulders. He has gray eyes and is clean shaven with rosy cheeks, and the background is dark brown. The miniature is set in a gold locket-style frame. The back displays a lock of dark brown hair inside a border of bright blue foiled glass—a popular framing style for miniatures in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and, therefore, surely a later addition. <br><br>Since the publication of the Greene collection catalogue in 1951, the attribution of this miniature has been disputed, with experts alternately suggesting Christian Friedrich Zincke and possibly Charles Boit (1663–1727). The evidence in favor of Zincke, however, is far stronger than it is for Boit, who had not worked in England for over a decade before his death in 1727, several years before the most plausible date for this portrait. Among Zincke’s hallmarks are lips painted two different colors—here, purplish pink on top and orange on the bottom—a practice that became increasingly pronounced later in his career. This portrait also exhibits Zincke’s characteristic treatment of the eyes during this period: he framed the eyes with individually painted black dots to represent eyelashes. The counter-enamel is not inscribed but has the smooth appearance of the counter-enamels customarily associated with Zincke’s later <br>career. <br><br>A miniature identical in all but the facial features appeared at Christie’s, London, in 2004. Zincke often used this costume consisting of a blue (or sometimes brown) velvet jacket with covered buttons, yellow embroidered waistcoat, and frilled lace cravat. An example that sold at Christie’s in 1996 is signed and dated 1734. Another closely related and unsigned example by Zincke in the Metropolitan Museum of Art has been dated to c. 1745, indicating when this attire was frequently employed by Zincke’s studio.

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Page
1
Source index
0
Type
photo
Media ID
71dda85c9a863580
Size
unknown

Document data

ID
119036
Core
obj
Type
object
DTO data
{
    "id": "119036",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Portrait of a Man",
    "description": "The unknown sitter's shoulders are turned to the right, and he is painted almost full face. He wears a bright blue velvet coat with covered buttons, deep yellow embroidered waistcoat, and white stock collar with double lace frill down the front. His powdered wig falls to his shoulders. He has gray eyes and is clean shaven with rosy cheeks, and the background is dark brown. The miniature is set in a gold locket-style frame. The back displays a lock of dark brown hair inside a border of bright blue foiled glass—a popular framing style for miniatures in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and, therefore, surely a later addition. <br><br>Since the publication of the Greene collection catalogue in 1951, the attribution of this miniature has been disputed, with experts alternately suggesting Christian Friedrich Zincke and possibly Charles Boit (1663–1727). The evidence in favor of Zincke, however, is far stronger than it is for Boit, who had not worked in England for over a decade before his death in 1727, several years before the most plausible date for this portrait. Among Zincke’s hallmarks are lips painted two different colors—here, purplish pink on top and orange on the bottom—a practice that became increasingly pronounced later in his career. This portrait also exhibits Zincke’s characteristic treatment of the eyes during this period: he framed the eyes with individually painted black dots to represent eyelashes. The counter-enamel is not inscribed but has the smooth appearance of the counter-enamels customarily associated with Zincke’s later <br>career. <br><br>A miniature identical in all but the facial features appeared at Christie’s, London, in 2004. Zincke often used this costume consisting of a blue (or sometimes brown) velvet jacket with covered buttons, yellow embroidered waistcoat, and frilled lace cravat. An example that sold at Christie’s in 1996 is signed and dated 1734. Another closely related and unsigned example by Zincke in the Metropolitan Museum of Art has been dated to c. 1745, indicating when this attire was frequently employed by Zincke’s studio.",
    "date": "c. 1735",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1940.1221",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
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    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
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    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1940.1221/1940.1221_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Framed: 5.1 x 4.3 cm (2 x 1 11/16 in.); Unframed: 4.5 x 3.6 cm (1 3/4 x 1 7/16 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "England, 18th century"
    ],
    "accession": "1940.1221"
}

Context sent to Scholar

Document identity
{
    "localId": "119036",
    "label": "Portrait of a Man",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
    "id": "119036",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Portrait of a Man",
    "description": "The unknown sitter's shoulders are turned to the right, and he is painted almost full face. He wears a bright blue velvet coat with covered buttons, deep yellow embroidered waistcoat, and white stock collar with double lace frill down the front. His powdered wig falls to his shoulders. He has gray eyes and is clean shaven with rosy cheeks, and the background is dark brown. The miniature is set in a gold locket-style frame. The back displays a lock of dark brown hair inside a border of bright blue foiled glass—a popular framing style for miniatures in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and, therefore, surely a later addition. <br><br>Since the publication of the Greene collection catalogue in 1951, the attribution of this miniature has been disputed, with experts alternately suggesting Christian Friedrich Zincke and possibly Charles Boit (1663–1727). The evidence in favor of Zincke, however, is far stronger than it is for Boit, who had not worked in England for over a decade before his death in 1727, several years before the most plausible date for this portrait. Among Zincke’s hallmarks are lips painted two different colors—here, purplish pink on top and orange on the bottom—a practice that became increasingly pronounced later in his career. This portrait also exhibits Zincke’s characteristic treatment of the eyes during this period: he framed the eyes with individually painted black dots to represent eyelashes. The counter-enamel is not inscribed but has the smooth appearance of the counter-enamels customarily associated with Zincke’s later <br>career. <br><br>A miniature identical in all but the facial features appeared at Christie’s, London, in 2004. Zincke often used this costume consisting of a blue (or sometimes brown) velvet jacket with covered buttons, yellow embroidered waistcoat, and frilled lace cravat. An example that sold at Christie’s in 1996 is signed and dated 1734. Another closely related and unsigned example by Zincke in the Metropolitan Museum of Art has been dated to c. 1745, indicating when this attire was frequently employed by Zincke’s studio.",
    "date": "c. 1735",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1940.1221",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q80014258"
    ],
    "creators": [
        3697
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Portrait Miniature"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1940.1221/1940.1221_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1940.1221/1940.1221_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1940.1221/1940.1221_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Framed: 5.1 x 4.3 cm (2 x 1 11/16 in.); Unframed: 4.5 x 3.6 cm (1 3/4 x 1 7/16 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "England, 18th century"
    ],
    "accession": "1940.1221"
}
Document source extras
{
    "tec": "enamel on copper in a gold frame with a blue glass and hair reverse",
    "tombstone": "Portrait of a Man, c. 1735. Christian Friedrich Zincke (German, 1683/85–1767). Enamel on copper in a gold frame with a blue glass and hair reverse; framed: 5.1 x 4.3 cm (2 x 1 11/16 in.); unframed: 4.5 x 3.6 cm (1 3/4 x 1 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Edward B. Greene Collection, 1940.1221",
    "collection": "P - British before 1800",
    "didYouKnow": "Unlike fragile portrait miniatures painted in watercolor on vellum or ivory, which are prone to cracking, fading, and flaking, enamels are resilient, impervious to the effects of light, and retain their striking original colors over time.",
    "citations": [
        {
            "citation": "Cleveland Museum of Art.<em> Portrait Miniatures; The Edward B. Greene Collection</em>. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1951.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced; p. 32, no. 50, pl. IV",
            "url": "https://archive.org/details/PortraitMiniatures/page/n51"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Korkow, Cory, and Jon L. Seydl.<em> British Portrait Miniatures: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>2013.",
            "page_number": "Cat. no. 23, pp. 120-122"
        }
    ],
    "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1940.1221",
    "creditline": "The Edward B. Greene Collection",
    "updatedAt": "2026-05-29 06:09:25.253000",
    "imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1940.1221/1940.1221_print.jpg",
    "sourceId": 119036,
    "dept": "European Painting and Sculpture",
    "coll": "P - British before 1800",
    "med": "enamel on copper in a gold frame with a blue glass and hair reverse",
    "creatorTags": [
        "male"
    ],
    "thumbnail_url": null,
    "image_url": null
}
Page context
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