Name/Title
Miniature Portrait on IvoryContext
This late 18th century miniature painted on ivory is a full-length portrait of a woman holding a wreath. The miniature is housed in a locket and could be worn as jewelry or carried in remembrance of a loved one who was far away or had passed. Indeed, the woman in this miniature is leaning on a tombstone marked with the inscription : “Pense à moi” (Think of me). Miniatures like this one were a means to keep loved ones close at heart, even when they were not physically present.
Miniatures first appeared in the 1520s at French and English courts where artists such as the German painter Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) or the French painter François Clouet (c. 1516–1572) adopted the techniques employed in illuminated manuscripts to produce small, independent portraits painted in watercolor on vellum. The art of small-scale portraiture then became famous among the European elite and especially in the 18th century, the “Golden Age” of miniature portrait painting. The tradition of miniatures was then introduced to the American colonies from England.
The locket containing the miniature is now mounted in an oval wood frame.Acquisition
Accession
1992.01Source or Donor
Mrs. W. Foster Gillespie (Gertrude Miller)Acquisition Method
Gift