Painting

A 3/4 length painting of Archibald Livingston seated before a carved wooden table in a red-upholstered chair. He sits facing slightly left, with his left leg crossed over his right, his right arm resting on the surface of the table to his right, and his left hand resting in his lap and holding a folded sheet of paper. The sitter has short grey-brown hair and a full beard, hazel-coloured eyes, and looks slightly past the viewer's left shoulder. He is wearing a black topcoat, black trousers, a black waistcoat, and a white collared shirt with gold studs and a white bowtie. The figure is wearing a gold chain of office with a round pendant medallion and other ovoid medallions, the lower portion of the chain secured to a waistcoat button. Directly behind the sitter is a wide panel of red drapery. On the table to the sitter's right (viewer's left) rest books and papers, in the left background a portion of a fluted pillar and an atmospheric sky may be seen. The painting is signed "W. Sawyer_ / 1875" in red paint in the lower right corner.

The painting is housed in a late 19th century gilt wood and plaster frame. Plain back edge; foliate bead, plain deep scotia, stepped to top edge; corner cartouches with plain cabochon centres, plain and fluted scrollwork at sides, crown-like outer corner, fleur-de-lis in inner corners, foliate vines at outer edges; foliate centres; leaf and berry motif top edge; decorative strapping on sanded scotia; plain stepped band; foliate bead, plain bevelled sight edge with upper spandrels.