Oil on canvas.Standing proud, a handsome and youthful Royalist officer from the English Civil war is portrayed in armour wearing an eye-catching sash over his shoulder. His long fair hair displays a natural wave and was popular in the seventeenth century and his attire demonstrates importance and prowess. The style and type of this portrait was popular in England in the middle of the 17th century when the English Civil war was raging throughout the country. The artist was from the 17th Century English School and would have been familiar with the works of William Dobson, who has been described as the most distinguished purely British painter before Hogarth.Sashes were as much a military necessity as they were fashionable dress. First worn to distinguish opposing combatants on the battlefield they denoted rank and allegiances. By the middle years of the 17th century they were an accessory for men - there are lavishly decorated examples in portraits from the 1630s to 1650s, s...