Major John Perryn
by Samuel Shelley, signed, circa 1790.

This exceptionally strong portrait is uncommonly large for an oval locket framed miniature.

A career soldier, John Perryn (c.1749-1805) spent his life as an officer in the 12th Regiment of Foot (East Suffolk Regiment). Perryn was the third son of Sir Richard Perryn, a Baron of the Exchequer. The family, from Lancaster, traced their roots back to the Saxons. Major Perryn, breveted Lieutentent-Colonel in 1794, retired from the Army in 1796.

Set in the original gold locket frame, the reverse with aperture containing feathered hair tied with seed pearls on a bed of Bristol glass. The miniature is signed on the front and inscribed on the backing paper.

4 11/16 inches high.

Samuel Shelley (1756-1808), called by Mrs. Foskett "an artist of considerable ability," painted watercolor portraits, oil paintings and book illustrations, in addition to miniatures. After graduating from the Royal Academy Schools, Shelley exhibited there from 1774-1804. An important influence on American miniaturists, Shelley instructed Alexander Robertson and inspired Edward Greene Malbone. In America, Shelley works are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Huntington Library, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.