Object of the Day: A Watercolor of a Member of the Life Guards

I found this small watercolor painting at a Dallas-area antique store. I would date it to the end of the Nineteenth Century or the beginning of the Twentieth. This tiny watercolor is probably a piece of a larger painting. Many years ago, it was cut down and mounted on a creamy card.

The handsome little portrait depicts a member of the British Life Guards in his red uniform and brass helmet adorned with a long, white horse-hair plume. This is the traditional uniform of the Life Guards who are members of the British Household Cavalry, an army corps which consists of two regiments of soldiers who were traditionally mounted on horses until the end of the First World War.

I have no idea who this fellow was, but he’ll forever remain here—shown as proud and steady.