Catalog: Fine Art: Paintings: Miniatures (328)

A fine miniature portrait, watercolor on organic wafer, of a blue-eyed gentleman.

Excellent condition with no issues. Sight size is 2 1/4" by 1 7/8", with the period frame being 4 1/4" by 3 3/4".

A portrait miniature beautifully painted on organic material. The sitter, M. Roland, is an attractive woman with flowing black hair, a white fichu over a white dress decorated with blue flowers, A wide pink sash completes her attire. This piece was based on the full length portrait of M. Roland done by Jules-Adolphe Goupil, titled "Le dernier Jour de Madame Roland" and shown in the third photo.

The painting is in excellent condition with no flaws or restoration...

A nicely rendered painting of a satyr and nymphs, a classical mythological motif, done in watercolor on natural wafer.

In overall very good condition with some minor paint loss at the very edge at the top left of the work. There is a very tight line on the center far right that does not affect any of the figures. The white area at the center bottom is due to light reflection and is not present when viewing in person...

A very interesting portrait miniature of a gentleman. Done in watercolor on organic material, it shows a half length naive depiction of a man posed with his hand in his waistcoat. The overall "feel" of this work is that it was done in the en grisaille style, in spite of the color in the man's lips, his vest, and cummerbund.

Condition of the painting and simple metal frame is excellent (light areas at the edges are due to reflections off the chamfered glass), with a size of 2 1/4" by 1 3/4".

Two paintings are offered here for the price of one! The first done in India ink on prepared cardboard, this finely limned profile shows a man facing left with his right hand tucked into his jacket. It is presented in a gilded, stamped sheet metal frame.

The condition is quite good with several unimportant white streaks, mainly in the jacket...

An interesting pair of miniature portraits, painted on organic wafer. Framed in a slightly different manner, there is no question these were done by the same artist at the same time.

Fairchild is an obscure artist, with very few, if any, signed works. This attribution is based on the similarity in technique to an example in a book by Bolton, and information that the pair came from a couple living in CT who are purportedly descendants of the artist...

This fine miniature portrait was painted in watercolor on organic material by Henry Shumway...

A charming and unusual Continental portrait miniature, painted in watercolors on natural wafer. Except for a very small number of miniaturists, and occasional examples by other miniaturists, the full profile format is quite rare. In this example the sitter is wearing a blue dress, gold earring, and a pearl necklace...

A striking c1790 miniature by Richard Cosway...

A fine miniature portrait, attributed to J.V. Sturgeon, of a gent posed in front of a green curtain with blue skies visible through the window. This type of setting is uncommon in American minis, but has been done by Sturgeon in some of his works.

The miniature is set in the original gilded copper pendant with a glazed aperture on the reverse containing plaited dark hair. Excellent condition with no issues to speak of...

A fine miniature portrait by Augustus Fuller, done on natural material. The sitter is an attractive hazel-eyed woman sporting sausage curls and wearing a white lace bonnet, a white lace fichu with a centered brooch, and a black dress. Fuller took pains in this painting to the extent of showing details of the dress design with faint white highlights, shown in the second photo.

The condition of the painting is excellent, and viewed in person the miniature is far better than the photo shows...

A wonderful miniature by Daniel Dickinson of a handsome gentleman. The sitter is dressed in the height of fashion for the time, wearing a blue jacket with velvet lapels. Note the broadness of the brush strokes and chiseled modeling of the face, both characteristics of Daniel's style, contrasting with his brother Anson's work.

The frame deserves special mention, being gilt silver with a 14K gold back and central plaque with "AM" initials. It is quite thick and weighs about 3 1/2 ounces...

A wonderful watercolor on natural wafer, painted by Robert Field. The sitter, a very pretty young woman with brown hair and eyes, is posed in front of a red drapery, and is wearing a black jacket over a white dress with a neck ruffle. The ebonized frame appears to be original, as is the cover glass which has a black and eglomise border.

The condition of this rare gem is excellent, with no cracks, chips, paint loss, or bowing...

An extremely fine watercolor and gouache on organic substrate miniature portrait done by Henry Benbridge, painted in his crisp, realistic style...

A superb pair of miniature portrait paintings done by Joseph Dunkerley. Labels on the reverse of each case identify the sitters as Joseph Packwood and Denise Wright Packwood, and are dated 1780.

Mrs. Packwood is wearing a large white hat with a blue ribbon and accents, a light blue gown with flowers embroidered on it and with dark lace edging at the bodice. Her husband is wearing a blue jacket and waistcoat, and a white cravat.

Excellent and scarce examples, and in fine condition. The gold...

A fantastic Clarissa Peters (Mrs. Mose B. Russell) mourning painting of a baby and toddler. Peters chose a simple palette of white and bluish-gray to emphasize the ethereal and ephemeral nature of the painting, reserving the use of colors to the hair, lips, and eyes of the subjects. Known for painting children, Peters' mourning paintings are scarce, and double mourning portraits are exponentially rarer yet.

Adding to the importance of this piece is the velvet lined gutta percha case, which h...

A beautifully done Horace Hone portrait, painted on natural wafer, signed and dated "HH 1782" on the right. The sitter might well be Mary, Viscountess Dillon, as she bears a great resemblance to another portrait Hone did of her. Whether this is the case or not, the subject of this miniature is a striking blue-eyed woman, with a coquettish mien to her. Her hair is styled elaborately, her eyes are shadowed with blue, and she is wearing a very low-cut blue gown trimmed with white edging over a prom...

An unusual and spectacular pair of portrait miniatures. Although both are signed by Moses B. Russell, it is almost certain, due to slight technique variances, that the portrait of the woman was done by Mrs. Moses B. Russell, nee Clarissa Peters. Although it is known that some of his signed pieces were, in fact, done by her, I know of no other instance where each artist did one of a pair.

The paintings are in excellent condition, with vibrant colors and no cracks, bowing, mold, retouch, ...