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Woman with White Scarf, by Charles Robertson, Circa 1785A serenely beautiful Irish portrait miniature of a woman with blue eyes, wearing a white scarf around her hair, a white dress, and a black shawl. The painting is set in the original gold locket frame, the reverse with beveled cobalt glass backed with foil, an inset glazed aperture decorated with eglomise holding brown plaited hair. Charles Robertson (c. 1760-1821), was arguably a more talented and less mannered artist than his older brother Walter Robertson, who served as his instructor when they lived together in Dublin. Robertson exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1790 to 1810, and in Dublin until 1821. He served as Secretary and Vice President of the Hibernian Society of Artists. A miniature of one of his daughters, Maria, and another of his brother Walter, are held in the National Gallery of Dublin, and other examples of his work may be seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Material: Watercolor on ivory.
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Mother and Two Children, Signed by Cornelia Hildebrandt, Circa 1908An American portrait miniature of a mother with her young daughter and baby. The painting is signed at the lower left: Cornelia E. Hildebrandt, and is set in the original gilt pendant frame, with foliate rim and solid reverse, held in a black leather traveling case. Cornelia Hildebrandt (1876-1962), was raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and with the artists Augustus Koopman and Virginia Reynolds. She and her husband, the portrait artist Howard Logan Hildebrandt, subsequently settled in New York City and New Canaan, Connecticut. Hildebrandt was a member of the American Society of Miniature Painters, the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, and the Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters. In 1912 she had a show of fifteen miniatures at the Worcester Art Museum. 1 Her miniatures may be viewed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Worcester Art Museum, and the Cincinnati Art Museum. Hildebrandt’s miniatures are scarce. Material: Watercolor on ivory.
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Woman with Red Shawl, by Sarah Goodridge, Circa 1828An outstanding American portrait miniature of a young woman with blonde hair and hazel eyes, wearing a black belted dress and a red shawl with paisley trim. The painting is set in a gilded brass over wood frame with the original brass inset mat. Sarah Goodridge [also Goodrich] (1788-1853), was one of America’s most talented and remarkable miniaturists. Born into a large family in Massachusetts--which included her sister and fellow miniaturist Eliza Goodridge--Sarah was primarily self-taught. She initially worked in oils until a fellow miniature painter in Hartford, almost certainly Elkanah Tisdale, gave her some instruction in watercolor on ivory, at which point she developed an affinity for the medium.1 In 1820 she established a studio in Boston, where she became friends with the American master painter Gilbert Stuart, from whom she received informal tutelage for several years. In addition to painting a miniature of Stuart, Goodridge also painted miniatures of Daniel Webster—who became an intimate friend—and of General Henry Lee, among many other distinguished clients. The departure of Edward Greene Malbone and Robert Field from the miniaturist arena left Boston an open field, and Goodridge quickly rose to become the most prominent miniaturist in the area.2 As well, several trips to Washington D.C. to visit Webster helped forge contacts with further important clientele to build her career. Goodridge never married, living instead in the Boston area with various family members. She exhibited at the Boston Athenaeum, and painted miniatures until failing eyesight forced her to stop, ten years before her death. Examples of her work may be seen in the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the American Antiquarian Society, the Neville-Strass Collection, and others. Material: Watercolor on ivory.
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Mary Anne Biddulph, by Archibald Skirving, Circa 1780A Scottish portrait miniature of Mary Anne Biddulph, with blue eyes and blonde hair, wearing a pink and cream dress and elaborately plumed hat. The painting is inscribed on the reverse: Mary Anne/ Biddulph 3d Dr of/ Michael Biddulph/ of Ledbury Esq/ married to Robert/ Philipps of Longworth/ Esq. The miniature is set in a gilt locket frame with a paste surround and solid reverse. Mary Anne Biddulph, one of six children, was born on December 3, 1769, to Michael Biddulph of Ledbury and Cofton Hall, and Penelope Biddulph (nee Dandridge, daughter of John Dandridge). Mary Anne married Robert Phillips, of Longworth, Herefordshire. They had at least two children, Marian, and Isabella-Frances. Mary Anne is recorded in the Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800, as a sitter for Ozias Humphry. She died on December 27, 1839, at age 70. Archibald Skirving (1749-1819), was a highly noted Scottish portrait artist, regarded by many as a rival to the more well known Sir Henry Raeburn, who painted a portrait of Skirving in 1810. Skirving was born in Athelstaneford to Adam Skirving, the Jacobite songwriter and farmer. Skirving worked briefly as an excise officer in Edinburgh, but soon turned to painting portrait miniatures. He moved to London, exhibiting at the Royal Academy in 1778, and then traveled to Italy, where he studied from 1786 to 1794. Captured by Bonaparte on his return journey to England, Skirving was imprisoned for a year as a supposed spy. The imprisonment worsened his existing eye condition, unocular elipopia, which in time eventually forced him to move from painting miniatures to executing larger portraits in oil and pastel. Skirving was a proud eccentric with rather abrupt social skills, and he held exacting strictures for the execution of his portraits. He demanded many sittings, was highly selective about those he chose to paint, and painted in a highly realistic style. Thomas Carlyle said of Skirving: “He chose faces himself; could not be hired to paint faces he disliked; to a Lady of rank who pressed him and again pressed him with questions, “Why won't you paint me?” he answered, “Good God, Madam, is it nothing to raise the price of yellow-ochre, think you?” I remember him…one summer morning early: lean as wood, brown as a berry, with the cleanest skin and linen, the sharpest eagle-face and the fiercest eye. He was an original, and came of such.” Skirving died unmarried in 1819 at Inveresk, and was buried at Athelstaneford. Examples of Skirving’s work are held in the National Gallery, Edinburgh, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Among his works are portraits of Robert Burns and Robert Dundas of Arniston. A portrait miniature, of Anne Biddulph, Mary Anne’s younger sister, was exhibited Raeburn's Rival, Archibald Skirving 1749-1819, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1999. [See image below.] Both portrait miniatures of the sisters were painted circa 1780, when Skirving was in London. Skirving’s miniatures are rare. Material: Watercolor on ivory. Literature: Daphne Foskett, Collecting Miniatures,
Woodridge, 1979, color plate, 27A .
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Lady in a Shawl, Signed by Henry Colton Shumway, N.A., Dated 1848A stunning American portrait miniature of a woman with brown eyes and brown hair, wearing a white dress, colorful shawl, and drop pearl earrings. The painting is signed and dated on the backing paper: Shumway / New York / 1848, and is set in a gilt cabinet frame with a leather reverse. This is an unusually fine example of Shumway’s work. Henry Colton Shumway N.A., (1807-1884), one of America’s most distinctive and assured miniaturists, was born in Middletown, Connecticut. He studied at the National Academy of Design, and also apparently received instruction from Thomas Seir Cummings. By 1831 he had established his career as a miniature painter in New York City, his sitters including Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Cyrus W. Field and Governor John Trumbull. Shumway exhibited at the National Academy for many years, as well as at the Artist’s Fund Society, the Apollo Association, and Philadelphian venues, and was elected academican at the National Academy in 1852. His contemporary William Dunlap said of Shumway: "[He is] in the foremost rank of the miniature painters in New York." Material: Watercolor on ivory.
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Lady in Black Feathered Hat, by Joseph Grassi, Circa 1780A gorgeous Austrian portrait miniature of a young woman with blue eyes and brown hair, wearing a black hat with black feathers and a diamante buckle, a blue dress and a cream shawl fastened with a jeweled clip. The painting is set in a gold locket frame, the reverse holding a glazed hair bouquet tied with gold cord, set on blue silk. Joseph Grassi (c. 1758-1838) an eminent artist, was born in Vienna, and studied at the Academy of Vienna from age 10 on. In 1785 he painted a miniature of Mozart, with whom he was friendly. Grassi became a member of the Academy in 1791, and exhibited miniatures and portraits in oils. He went briefly to Warsaw where he was in favour as a portraitist with the aristocracy. He painted Kosziuszko in 1792, and through the help of the duchess Anna Charlotte Dorothea Biron de Courlande, was appointed teacher at the Academy of Dresden, in 1800, a post which he held until 1816. Material: Watercolor on ivory.
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Lady with the Initials L. M., Signed by William Verstille, Circa 1790An appealing early American portrait miniature of a woman with blue eyes and powdered brown hair, wearing a blue dress with a frilled white bodice and a red sash, and a red ribbon in her hair. The painting is signed at the right: Verstille. The portrait is set in the original gold locket case, with a brightwork inset mat on the front, the reverse with brightwork surrounding a glazed aperture containing a chopped hair and india ink drawing on ivory of the monogram LM, two love birds, and a wreath. William Verstille (1757-1803), a leading American miniaturist in the 18th century, was born in Boston to a merchant family. He developed an interest in art at an early age, and as a member of the troops during the American Revolution, he painted miniatures of the officers. In 1780 he married Eliza Sheldon, and moved to East Windsor, Connecticut. Verstille rose to become one of the most active miniaturists in the area, and subsequently worked in Philadelphia and then New York City. In New York City, Dale Johnson says: “During his years in New York Verstille clearly took notice of the work of John Ramage…Verstille’s miniatures from that time are,..like Ramage’s in size, coloring, pose of subject, and format.. [and] many of the distinctive gold cases housing Verstille’s miniatures are very close to the ones Ramage made for his own works…making it tempting to conclude that Verstille apprenticed under Ramage—or at the very least copied some of Ramage’s pieces which he borrowed or owned.”1 During this time in New York Verstille began keeping a detailed account book of his commissions for miniatures, hairwork, mourning pieces, and jewelry. Verstille worked closer to home in the 1790s, traveling throughout Connecticut and Massachusetts, where he took portraits of a number of important Salem families. Bolton comments: “Dr. Bentley’s “Diary” contains the following….A Mr. Verstille has at the present much fame and it is believed great success. 1802.” 2 Examples of Verstille’s work may be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Henry Luce III Center, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum, and the Wadsworth Atheneum. Material: Watercolor on ivory.
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Lady in Elaborately Plumed Cap, by Thomas Hull, Circa 1790A charming British portrait miniature of a woman with blue eyes and powdered brown hair, wearing a white dress, a black ribbon around her neck, and an elaborately plumed cap. The painting is set in a gold locket frame, the reverse with a sheaf of hair set with seed pearls on opalescent glass, backed with foil. Thomas Hull (active 1775-1827), a talented artist, worked in London and Leeds. Thomas Hull exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1775 to 1827. In 1795 Hull married Frideswide Wells, and had at least one daughter, Sophia, who grew up to marry William Francis Barraud, a clerk in the Custom House. Two of their children, William and Henry Barraud, went on to become accomplished artists. Hull’s portrait miniature of the Honourable John Monckton is at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Hull’s miniatures are scarce. Material: Watercolor on ivory.
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Lady in Blue, by Richard Cosway, R.A., Circa 1790A delightful British portrait miniature of a young woman with blue eyes and blonde hair, wearing a blue sprigged dress, a gold cross around her neck, and a blue ribbon in her hair. The painting is set on a plaited blonde hair background with an inner gold bezel, and housed in the original gold locket frame with a watchtop bale, the reverse with foiled cobalt glass. Held inside the case are a cut-down trade card inscribed: “…L. Hart/ Gold Chaser & Engra…/late Apprentice & Successor to Mr. Hart…/No. 25 Noel St…” and another cut-down card inscribed somewhat illegibly: “Capt. Barnes [?]/ 26th Regt. [?]/ Orbonnes Hoter [?]/ Adelph…” It is likely that this portrait was painted for Captain Barnes. One of the most important miniaturists in English history, if not the most influential, Richard Cosway, R.A. (1740-1821), was born in Devon to a family that owned a prosperous woolen business. Cosway was sent to London at age twelve, where he studied with Thomas Hudson, and attended William Shipley’s drawing school and the Royal Academy Schools. Cosway exhibited at the Society of Artists, the Free Society of Artists, and the Royal Academy, and was elected to the Academy in 1771. In 1781 he married the Anglo-Italian artist Maria Hadfield, and in 1789 their only child, Louisa Paolina Angelica, was born. Cosway dearly loved his daughter, and after her sudden death at age seven, his somewhat eccentric behavior became more erratic. Cosway's tremendous talent won him such famous clients and friends as the Prince of Wales, and he and Maria moved in the most fashionable Georgian circles, known for their salons and exquisite art and antique collections. Thomas Jefferson said of them that they possessed: “….good sense, good humour, honest hearts, honest manners, and eminence in a lovely art.” 1 Cosway’s works may be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Wallace Collection, the Fitzwilliam Museum, the British Museum, and the private collection of Her Majesty the Queen, as well as many other public and private collections. Material: Watercolor on ivory.
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Mrs. Bray, Signed by William M. S. Doyle, Dated 1815An American portrait miniature of Mrs. Bray of Boston, seated in a red upholstered chair. She has brown eyes and brown hair, and wears a black dress with a white lace collar, drop earrings, and a jeweled comb in her upswept hair. The painting is signed and dated at the right: Doyle 1815, and is set in a black papier-mache frame with an ormolu mat. The first members of the Bray family to move to Massachusetts were John Bray and his wife Joan, who came from Plymouth, England, circa 1660. William Massey Strode Doyle (1769-1828), of Boston, was one of the most important miniaturists in the Northeast during the early 19th century. In addition to painting miniatures, he also cut silhouettes and and painted larger portraits in pastels and oils. He partnered with Daniel Bowen as co-proprietor of the Columbian Museum on Tremont Street, where a full gamut of portraiture, including wax portraits, were sold. Henry Williams entered the business as the third partner, and then later Doyle became the sole proprietor and remained in business there until his death. Examples of Doyle's work may be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Yale University Art Gallery, and his self-portrait is held in the New York Historical Society collection. Material: Watercolor on ivory. Provenance: Bonhams, April 10, 2002, Lot 413.
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Woman with Blue Hair Ribbon, By Nathaniel Freese, Circa 1795An enchanting British portrait miniature of a young woman with large brown eyes and powdered brown hair, wearing a white dress with a blue sash and a blue ribbon in her hair. The painting is set in the original gold locket case, the reverse containing a cobalt glass surround and a central panel of plaited brown hair. This is a particularly fine example of this artist’s distinctive work. Nathaniel Freese (active 1794-1814), about whom little is known, practiced in London, exhibiting portraits, landscapes, and at least one miniature at the Royal Academy. He is thought to have joined the Artists' Volunteer Corp in 1803. In 1814 he exhibited a portrait of Lieutenant G. F. Freese, who died at Salamanca. According to Basil Long, a J. Freese worked for the Duke of Cambridge and exhibited a portrait at the Royal Academy in 1811 may have been Nathaniel’s son. Examples of Freese’s work may be found at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, and the Cincinnati Art Museum. Material: Watercolor on ivory.
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Lady with Brown Eyes, by John Barry, Circa 1790An English portrait miniature of a woman with brown eyes and powdered brown hair, wearing a gray dress with a white fichu. The painting is set in the original rose-gold frame with beaded and engraved decoration, the reverse with a gold monogram set on plaited brown hair. John Barry (active 1784-1827), of London, exhibited at the Royal Academy. His works included portraits of the Reverend John Wesley, Miss De Camp, and others. Foskett says: “Little is known about this artist who painted some excellent miniatures, and whose work has not always had the attention which it deserves.” Works by Barry may be seen at the Nottingham Art Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Material: Watercolor on ivory.
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*******************
The primary references used for the artist biographies
on the listings are: Miniatures Dictionary and Guide by
Daphne Foskett,
American Portrait Miniatures in The Manney Collection,
by Dale Johnson and The Miniature in Europe, by Leo Schidlof.
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