Perfect to enhance the aesthetic of the antiquarian Scottish Covenanter, Puritan, or Presbyterian library, the present original oil on canvas, relaid to board, was painted c.1780 and bears the likeness of Scottish Presbyterian Elder, David Jobson [as indicated by an earlier, now destroyed 19th century label.
David Jobson [b.1720] was Elder at the Presbyterian Church at Auchterhouse, just seven miles to the north west of Dundee, where Robert Murray M'Cheyne would later minister. Jobson was the brother of Charles Jobson who served as the Kirk Treasurer of the Dundee Presbytery and whose records of the Jacobite Rebellion in Dundee of 1745 remain an important resource. David seems to have served in a similar capacity at Auchterhouse.
The painting itself measures c.10 x 12 inches, and 14 x 16 inches framed. The painting has been relaid at some point, likely in the early 20th century. The frame shows significant wear with structural breaches at the recessed inner lip. Very attractive and an affordable genuine 18th century example. Would benefit from conservation, but attractive as is.
