Catalog: Fine Art: Paintings: Miniatures (328)

Nicely executed miniature, on natural organic material, of a woman in bonnet and lace; enamelled frame; sight size 2 1/4" by 1 3/4"; slight paint rubbing at 5 o'clock

A fine miniature portrait painting, on natural organic material, done by John Alexander McDougall. The sitter is a distinguished gentleman dressed fashionably in a ruffled blue shirt, light blue vest, and black coat.

The miniature is in excellent condition, with no problems or restoration. The brass case is also without flaws. The photo of the back does appear to have blemishes, but these are label residues...

A fine miniature portrait painting, strongly attributed to Samuel Broadbent. The sitter is reputedly Michael Butler, founder of the Union News Company. The attribution is based on the heavy coloring used in the sitter's face, the positioning in the painting of the sitter, the background technique, and the similarity to the example in the Manney collection.

The painting is in excellent condition, with no cracks, bowing, or restoration...

A charming and beautifully rendered watercolor portrait, of a very attractive young woman, painted by Emanuel Reynolds. The sitter is dressed in the height of fashion for the period, around 1837, with a spangled diaphanous blue shawl over a low cut, pleated, black dress highlighted with a central blue brooch...

A superb double silhouette on natural organbic material, in a cast foliate locket, by John Field. One side is of a woman, the other of a man, wearing spectacles (highly unusual) and both are signed "John Field 111 Strand" along the lower edge of the bust line. These paintings display the finely executed bronzed work that was a hallmark of Field's.

The sight size is 1 1/2" by 1 1/4"...

A charming miniature portrait, on natural organic material, of a child, signed Mercier for Mlle Hyacinthe Mercier.

The painting is in excellent condition, and is housed in its original silver and embossed tortoise shell frame. The shell portion has two unimportant splits, visible at 6 and 9 o'clock in the photo...

A very fine American portrait miniature painting, on natural organic material, of a young man attired in the latest fashion of his period, wearing a brown vest and velvet collar coat.

The miniature is 2 inches by 1 1/2 inches sight size and the deep purple velvet-lined thermoplastic case it is in is 3 inches by 2 1/2 inches. The piece is in superb condition, with no cracks, chips, bowing, or inpainting...

A beautifully limned miniature portrait painting by Elkanah Tisdale. The sitter, though unknown, is a handsome young man dressed in a black coat. The painting measures 3" by 2", and is in superb condition, with no chips, cracks, bowing, paint loss, or restoration. It is housed in a later metal case.

Few miniatures by Tisdale are known to exist, and with very rare exception, are, as is the case here, unsigned...

A finely done miniature portrait painting by Joseph Wood. Although unsigned, there is no question that this fine rendering of a young woman was done by Wood.

Sight size of this nice example is 2 1/4" by 1 13/16", and the period case is 2 1/2" by 2 1/16". The condition of the painting is excellent, with vibrant coloring, and no chips, cracks, or restoration. The period case (and glass) is in excellent condition, but it is missing the back, a replacement for which which can be made...

A beautifully drawn miniature on natural organic material portrait painting, attributed to Thomas Hazlehurst. The piece has a somewhat ethereal feel to it, with the sitter, in a gauzy white gown, and wearing a double strand of pearls, gazing rather wistfully at the viewer. The portrait is dated 1805, and while not signed, stylistically it would most likely would have been done either by Hazlehurst or John Barry...

A miniature portrait painting by Abraham Parsell, done in his recognizable style with somewhat frizzy hair, and the sitter posed with his arm on a chair. Housed in its original cast foliate frame with a rear aperture containing a lock of hair.

The painting is 2 5/16" by 1 7/8", while the overall locket size is 2 1/2" by 2 1/8"...

A watercolor miniature portrait done by Richard Morrell Staigg. The sitter is a nice-looking blue-eyed young man in a black coat and cravat, with a light blue vest. As is usual with Staigg, the painting is superbly limned. It is housed in one half of a leather case.

The condition is excellent, with no problems whatsoever. Sight size is 3 1/2" by 3".

A superbly painted portrait of a handsome gentleman, strongly attributed to James Tooley. The sitter has blue eyes, red hair and beard, and is attired in a black jacket, black vest, with a blue-gray waistcoat and cravat.

The artistry shown in this piece is of the highest quality, and the feel and techniques indicate that it was done by James Tooley...

A superb miniature portrait painting by Giovanni Battista Gigola...

A beautifully executed miniature portrait painting of a young gent, signed and dated "JH Kimberly Pinxt New York March 1844". It is in its original foliate cast case, measuring 2 3/4" by 2 5/16".

The miniature is in excellent condition, with no chips, cracks, bowing, paint loss, or restoration. (The blurriness in certain areas of the photo is due to light reflection.) The case is also in fine condition, with the reverse of it showing wonderfully engine turned work, and missing its surround an...

An American watercolor portrait miniature of a striking young man with brown hair and gray eyes. The sitter is wearing a black coat with brass buttons, a white vest, shirt, and cravat. Signed "Williams" at the lower right, the painting is in the original gilt pendant frame with a cast foliate rim. The reverse of the case has a glazed aperture holding plaited brown hair.

The overall size of the portrait is 2 5/8" by 2 1/4". The condition of the painting is excellent, with no cracks, chips, or ...

One of the finest miniature paintings done by William Massey Stroud Doyle, showing a young man in a black jacket, white shirt and tie with a stickpin. The finely limned gentleman is shown against a white cloud-filled blue sky. Signed "Doyle 1822" at the lower right.

Not only is the painting itself beautiful, but the original case is also very fine, containing a lock of hair in the glazed rear aperture. Condition of the mini is excellent, with no cracks, chips, or restoration. The case is also...

A stunning miniature portrait painting, watercolor on natural organic material, of a beautiful young girl with hazel eyes. The artist has painted the sitter with a background of clouds against a blue sky, often thought to denote that the piece was done as a mourning keepsake.

The condition of the painting is excellent, with no chips, cracks, bowing, or restoration. This little gem is housed in its original cast bronze brooch, with a mother-of-pearl backing. The sight size is 1 5/8" by 1...

A fine miniature portrait painting by the important artist John Carlin. This work shows a beautiful young woman posed simply in a white dress. Carlin obviously intended to have the viewer focus on her fine features and luminous eyes.

The painting is signed and dated on the reverse backing papers, and is housed in a brooch. The sight size is 1 5/16" by 1 1/8", and the brooch size is 1 3/4" by 1 1/2". Condition is excellent, with no chips, cracks, bowing or restoration. The brooch is missing its...

A fine miniature portrait painting, done in watercolor on natural organic material, by Hugh Bridport. The sitter is a gentleman, purportedly John Trigg. On the reverse of the painting is a preliminary sketch of the subject, which Bridport is known to have done. Only a portion of the sketch is shown, as I did not want to peel back all the paper.

The condition of the miniature is excellent, with no flaws at all. It is housed, with a cover glass, in a red leather wallet-type case. Sight size is 2...

A beautifully executed miniature folk art watercolor on thin card portrait by J. H. Gillespie, housed in a cast foliate metal locket with an aperture on the reverse.

The condition is excellent, with no issues whatsoever. The reverse of the case is lacking the surround and glazing to the aperture.

Note: Gillespie was active on the East Coast of North America, Baltimore, New York, and Philadelphia around the 1829-1838 time period. Gillespie painted miniature portraits and silhouettes very c...

A nicely done miniature portrait, on natural organic material, of an attractive young woman. The sitter is wearing a white dress, a black necklace and earrings, and an upswept hairdo. The painting is housed in its blue velvet travel case, with a glass cover.

Condition is excellent, with no problems. The sight size is 2" by 1 1/2", and the closed case size is 3" by 2 1/2".

A beautiful and charming portrait on porcelain, painted, and signed on the reverse, by the well-known English artist, William Corden. The sitter is a young girl in a pretty white dress trimmed in blue, with matching shoes and necklace. She is seated in front of a red drapery, holding a basket of flowers, with several scattered by her side on the chaise-longue. signed on the reverse. Mounted in a period, and probably original, gilt over gesso frame.

The sight size of this gem is 6 1/4" by 5 1/8...

A fine watercolor folksy miniature portrait painting. The sitter is a nice looking young gentleman dressed in a black coat, patterned white vest, white shirt with stud, and a black stock tie. Housed in its original red leather travel case.

Excellent condition, with no cracks, bowing, or other problems. The sight size is 2 5/8" by 2".

An American miniature portrait painting, on natural organic material, of an older woman, unusual in that the subject is directly facing the viewer, and her image fills practically the entirety of the painting. The sitter has brown eyes, brown hair done in sausage curls, and is wearing a white lace cap and ruffled collar.

The artist was clearly well trained, and chose an overall palette of muted somber tones to emphasize that this was not just a pretty picture of a client, but was a character...

An excellent Swiss miniature portrait painting, on natural organic material, of an architect. The subject is a distinguished gray-haired gentleman wearing a blue coat and white shirt, and is seated in an upholstered chair. His elbow is leaning on a table which has a diagram of a bridge. Housed in its original case, the reverse of which is white glass which has the initials CT or TC in the center, surrounded with a border of flowers, all of which is done with hairwork, gold filigree, and black pa...

A fine American miniature painting on natural wafer of a hazel-eyed woman, dressed in a white bonnet and fichu. Original locket gilt metal case has a plait of hair in the aperture on the back of the case.

Superb condition with no problems. The locket is 2 3/8" by 2", and the sight size of this little gem is 2 1/4" by 1 7/8".

A fine miniature portrait painting attributed to Theodore V. Peticolas, done on natural organic material, of a nice looking young gentleman with red hair and hazel eyes. He is wearing a brown jacket edged with black velvet, a white shirt with stickpin, and a black velvet bowtie.

The condition is excellent with no problems, as is the condition of the case, which has a glazed aperture on the rear. The size of this charming painting is 2 1/2" by 2".

Note: Theodore Peticolas (1797 - 1866) was ...

An American miniature portrait painting, on natural organic material, of a very attractive boy with gray-blue eyes, wearing a red velvet jacket. The painting is 2 3/4" by 2 1/4" and is in excellent condition.

A nicely done watercolor, on natural organic material, miniature painting by William Massey Stroud Doyle, signed and dated "1814" center left. The sitter is wearing a black coat, red-striped yellow vest, and white shirt. E. Grosvenor Paine provenance.

The painting is is excellent condition, with no chips, cracks, bowing, or other problems. The black lacquered frame does have crackling. The sight size is 2 5/8" by 2 1/8", and the framed size is 4 1/2" by 3 7/8".

NOTE: Doyle (1769 - 1828) was...

A finely painted American miniature portrait of a gentleman in a black jacket and tie, posed in front of a red drapery. What makes this highly unusual for a miniature cased portrait is that it is oil paint on wood, rather the the exceedingly more common watercolor on ivory or paper.

There is a very old note in the gilt metal case identifying the sitter as John Calvin Margin, born in 1790, the son of Curtis and Claire Margin, with a reference to Boston, Mass and Binghamton NY.

The painting ...

A nice miniature painting done by Christopher Greiner. The sitter is a gentleman in a black coat and tie, but Greiner emphasized the somber feel of the painting by using a background of black and dark green.

The painting has no condition flaws, and is housed in a cast foliate pendant case with hair in the glazed aperture on the back. The size is 2 1/2" by 1 3/4".

Note: Not much seems to be known about Christopher (or Christian) Greiner (died 1864), other than that he was a painter and min...

A beautifully painted miniature portrait on ivory, signed and dated lower left "Gerald S. Hayward 1882". The sitter is an attractive young woman wearing a diamond necklace and white gown. The background is white clouds against a blue sky. This, taken with the 1883 date of the painting contrasting with the engraved 1884 date on the reverse of the cast foliate case (along with the sitter's initials of F.L.A.) would be a strong indication that this is a mourning painting, done in the year prior to ...

A very fine miniature bust length silhouette on natural organic material by John Miers. The piece is signed along the left side of the bust line. As is usual with his best examples, this painting shows very finely executed bronzed work. The interior of the top is glazed with a hairwork enclosed. Sight size is 1 1/8" by 7/8", and the locket size is 1 1/4" by 1".

Both the miniature and the locket are in excellent condition, with no issues.

NOTE: The following are excerpts from two reference w...

A fine silhouette done in black and bronze gilt, of an older woman. Although unsigned, the work was unquestionably done by John Field. The reverse of the gilt metal case, which comes with its silk lined red leather travel case, has elaborate and tightly woven hairwork of two colors, indicating that one of them was hers, while the other was of a loved one.

Both the miniature and the case are in excellent condition. Sight size of the piece is 2 3/8" by 1 7/8", with the case size being 2 9/16" b...

A well done miniature portrait painting on natural organic material, with the sitter being Bishop William White. This piece was done based on the original work painted in enamel on copper by William Birch in 1830. This example kept very true to the original.

The painting is in excellent condition, as is its original velvet travel case, although the photo is not of the highest quality. Sight size is 1 3/8" by 1 1/8".

NOTE: William White (1748-1836) was the first bishop of the Protestant Episc...