Nineteenth Century Watercolor of a Comely Boy Holding the Union Jack by the Cliffs of Dover

England, 1840. A winsome watercolor portrait done probably by a gifted amateur, with a sublime naivete -- some might not find this painting naive at all. What sets this painting apart from typical amateur artwork is how movement is suggested; how wonderful is the spring in the boy's foot -- he almost looks as if he is dancing! The only things that to us peg this more of an amateur are the hands, the hardest thing to paint, which here are done without polish, and the waves of the flag in the wind or as the boy plays with it seem executed with a cursoriness. N.d., circa 1840. Children's attire is especially challenging to date, as it generally evolved slower than adult fashion, but the decade of the 40s is certainly consistent with the clothing we see, and the curls in his hair give him a Byronic androgynous beauty, and that would suggest the likelihood of an earlier date, with the yellow top hat, possibly something on the later side. The backdrop with the lighthouse is almost certainly representing the Cliffs of Dover, also something consistent with the gentle patriotic messaging of the portrait. The watercolor is 20 by 18 cm. The painting is on a thin paper probably done in a sketchbook. We might expect such a painting to have been mounted into an album, but the back of the paper is incredibly clean -- there is nothing to suggest it was pasted or somehow attached to something else.