19th C Antique Miniature Hand Painted Portait Photo by Samuel Broadbent

Antique miniature portrait painting of an educated gentleman. This unique portrait is painted over a photograph taken in the studio by Samuel Broadbent who is most likely the painter also as he was an accomplished artist. The address on the bottom of the painting enables a date of manufacture between 1859-1863. During the infancy of photography it was prestigious for well to do benefactors to have their photographs taken. However since photographs were black and white the more affluent sitters had them hand painted by studio artists. The photographers were precious about their intellectual property and therefore rarely allowed the arrests to sign their work over their photographs. In this case the painter and photographer are one and the same person. Marked "photographed by Broadbent & Co, 814 Chestnut St, Pha." Written in pencil on the back: Mr E Clarence Miller, Melrose Park The subject is the grandfather of E. Clarence Miller who was in his 50's when the painting was commissi