Antiques, Estate & Job Lot Auction – 14 October 2026

Antiques, Estate & Job Lot Auction – 14 October 2026

Catalogue

Lot 1077: Three 18th Century Mezzotint Family Portraits of the Pears and Beale Families Father & Sons, 34 x 27"

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Start price: £20

Estimated price: £20 - £40

Buyer's Premium: 18%

A trio of late 18th or early 19th-century portrait prints, likely mezzotints?, depicting members of the Pears and Beale families. The set comprises three matching oval-format portraits housed in mahogany-toned wooden frames with gilt inner slips. The central portrait depicts a mature gentleman in 18th-century attire, including a powdered wig and ruffled cravat. He is flanked by two portraits of young boys, both featuring long, natural hair and wide, ruffled lace collars. The prints exhibit soft tonal gradations characteristic of the mezzotint technique. The reverse of each frame bears extensive handwritten genealogical labels on aged paper. One label reads James Pears Woodperry Wheatley Oxon 1739 and provides a family lineage including James Pears (1740-1804), James (1778-1853), and William Beale (1780-1793). Another label identifies William Beale Pears born 1780 died early. The third set of labels details James Pears afterwards Rector of Charlcombe Bath and lists his children: James Thomas, Arnold, Elizabeth, Edmund, Charles, Steuart, Augustus & Mary, alongside a detailed register of births and deaths.
Length: 34″ x 27″.