John Evans Eccles (British, 19th Century) "The Disappointed Lover" C. 1884

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The Disappointed Lover is a finely composed late Victorian genre painting by John Evans Eccles, a British artist recorded as … Read more The Disappointed Lover is a finely composed late Victorian genre painting by John Evans Eccles, a British artist recorded as active in the 1880s and represented in the Bury Art Museum collection with related works including The Proposal and The Refusal. The present work, dated 1884, fits closely within that courtship narrative tradition: a richly dressed Cavalier or 17th-century romantic figure stands in an interior beside a hearth or fireplace, his lowered posture and theatrical costume suggesting rejection, melancholy, or romantic disappointment. The subject belongs to the Victorian taste for historical genre painting, where costume, setting, and gesture were used to dramatize emotional episodes from imagined earlier centuries.

The painting is executed in oil on canvas and presented in an ornate giltwood frame with a title plaque reading The Disappointed Lover by J. Evans Eccles. Eccles’s known works include figure subjects, portraits, and still life, and institutional references connect him to the British school of the later 19th century.

The scene is especially appealing for its layered theatricality: the plumed hat, slashed and patterned costume, carpet, architectural interior, and glimpse of garden or daylight beyond all heighten the sense of romantic narrative. The composition appears to relate thematically to Eccles’s known titles The Proposal and The Refusal, placing this work within a small but evocative body of Victorian narrative paintings centered on courtship, rejection, and social drama. The ornate gilt frame reinforces the period character of the work and gives it strong gallery presence.

Measurements: 25.5" w x 29.625" h. See less