Catalog (115)

A striking c1790 miniature by Richard Cosway. The subject, a blue-eyed infantry officer with his hair en queue, is wearing a red jacket with a white epaulet, white trim, and cravat.

This portrait is a good study example as many of Cosway's techniques and style characteristics are present: use of floating transparent paints to allow the luminosity of the substrate to show through, enlargement of the pupils, massed hair as opposed to finer individual strands, a sky background using a stro...

A beautifully rendered miniature painting, on natural organic material, by John Barry. The sitter is an attractive and stately woman with the mass-like appearance of her hair that is one of the characteristics of Barry's work. The casework is as fine as the painting, with the miniature set in a gold bezel, and the reverse with foil backed blue glass surrounding a display of tightly woven hair.

Both the painting and the case are in excellent condition, with no losses or restoration. Overall siz...

An extremely fine enamel on copper miniature portrait painting done by William Prewett (Prewitt). The sitter is an older gentleman, of quite aristocratic bearing, wearing a powdered wig, white shirt and stock, and a reddish-brown jacket. The painting is in its original gold bezel case.

Condition is excellent, with no issues. The discoloration at the top is due to scanner reflection. The sight size is 1 7/8" by 1 1/2", while the overall size is 2 1/4" by 1 5/8".

IMPORTANT NOTES:1. This piece ...

This beautiful miniature portrait, painted in watercolor on natural material, is signed "SH 1786" on the right center of the painting, and also on the reverse as "Sophia Howell 1786". The sitter, a woman wearing a white gown with a lace-edged black overpiece, and holding a salmon colored muff, is posed in front of a blue drape and a stone column and plinth.

The artistic quality of this work is evident in so many ways, from the colors and textures in the drapery, to the painting of the hair, t...

A nicely painted and early miniature portrait of a man done in watercolor on natural organic material. The blue-eyed sitter is a nice-looking gentleman fashionably attired in a full, long wig, a blue loose fitting robe, and white ruffled shirt.

One of the interesting things about this piece is that the original gold case is of a type known as a "slide case". The top protuberance is attached to a small sheet of metal (in this case gold), and when a little knob is pushed, the sheet can slide com...

A watercolor on organic wafer, painted by John Smart, and initialed lower left, along with the date of 1797. The sitter is a young woman with brown curls and eyes. She is attired in a green and blue feathered cap, a white gown with lace on the collar, and a green sash.

The brushwork is impeccable, the texture and blush of the skin, the details of the eyes, the clarity of each hair, and the overall luminescence of this painting are stunning. Even when compared to the vast majority of Sma...

A wonderful English watercolor miniature on natural wafer, painted by Ozias Humphry. The gentleman depicted is clearly of the upper class, dressed in a dusty rose colored jacket with a lace collar, a style worn in England specifically in the 1765 to 1770 period. The case, which is probably original and of gold, comes with a 28" long gold chain attached through the bale, and is also most likely to be original.

The condition of the painting is excellent, with no flaws to speak of, and no restora...