Presumed portrait of Alexander MACLAVERTY
Fine Arts
Inventory number
2026.4.29.1.FA.PA.C1800.GB
Description
Presumed silhouette miniature portrait of Alexander MACLAVERTY, Laird of Keil. The portrait is presented in a circular gilt frame with raised beaded ornament around the edge. The image itself shows the sitter in strict profile, turned to the left, rendered as a dark silhouette against a pale ground.
The silhouette is executed in black watercolour, probably on ivory or another smooth miniature support. The sitter is depicted with long hair falling behind the neck and tied at the back with a small ribbon bow. The profile is sharply defined, with a prominent nose, slightly projecting lips, and a clear outline of the chin and neck. The costume is only partly visible, but suggests a late eighteenth-century male dress, with a high collar and a projecting jabot at the front.
Alexander MACLAVERTY, Laird of Keil (Machairemore, Scotland, 12 June 1731 - ?) was a Scottish merchant and ship captain, active in transatlantic trade during the second half of the eighteenth century. Born into the ancient Dalriadan family of MACLAVERTY, a name of Gaelic origin signifying son of the ruler, he was the third son of John MACLAVERTY (c.1693 - ?) and Agnes ROBERTSON ( c.1697 - ?). Around 1755 he married Jane JOHNSON (also recorded as Jean Johnston, c.1735 - ?), heiress and ward of CAMPBELL of Skipness, herself descended from Alexander MACDONALD, son of Glencoe, who had escaped the Massacre of 1692. Their son Colin MACLAVERTY (1755 - 1834) later became a doctor.
Alexander owned and captained several merchant vessels engaged in trade with the West Indies and North America. Contemporary records document his voyages to the Chesapeake until 1774 and to Jamaica in 1778 - 79, after which he no longer appears in newspaper advertisements, his career having likely suffered as Glasgow gradually lost access to the Chesapeake markets. As a Glasgow merchant captain, he was able to provide his son Dr. Colin MACLAVERTY with connections in Jamaica, though his own trading ventures appear to have ceased in the final decades of the century.
Materials
Ivory
Watercolour
Wood frame
Metal
Glass
Origin
circa 1800
United Kingdom, Scotland
Dimensions
Length : 7 cm
Height : 8.5 cm