A British Officer by John Ramage,
circa 1775 - 1780.

Set in the original gold bracelet mount.

1 5/8 inches high.

John Ramage (1748-1802), Miniaturist, goldsmith and Irish loyalist, first arrived from Dublin in Boston in 1774 His stay was short; he enlisted in a Loyalist regiment, moving with them to Halifax. But, by 1777, Ramage had left his regiment and moved to British-occupied New York City, where he served the Tories in the same capacity that Charles Willson Peale ministered to the Revolutionaries. Ramage was, in fact, "the only artist in New York" according to William Dunlap. His eminent sitters included Anthony Rutgers, George Clinton, General Anthony Wayne, General J.J. Van Rensselaer, and George Washington. His portraits appear to be very like Dunlap's description of him, "...an intelligent countenance and lively eye. He dressed fashionably and according to the time, beauishly. A scarlet coat with mother-of-pearl buttons...a white silk waistcoat embroidered with colored flowers." Ramage set his jewel-like miniatures in his own gold cases, replete with brightwork engraving, scalloped mats and fluting, which set a standard for American case work for decades to follow.

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