Focus on Portrait of a Seated Gentleman and analyze the Description.
The canvas, signed B. N. De La Pierre, is dated 1785 and measures 29-1/2 inches (height) by 24-1/2 inches (width).  It shows an 18th-century gentleman sitting at a desk and beginning to write on a single sheet of paper.  On the desk in the foreground is displayed a copy of De la Caisse d'Escompte, a financial pamphlet published on 17 May 1785 by the French orator and statesman Mirabeau (Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau). The portrait was painted several years before Mirabeau achieved prominence.
Both the subject of the painting and the pre-1928 provenance are being researched by Omnis, Inc.
Omnis, Inc. Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau Caisse d'Escompte provenance