Rare M.E. Mynerts Portrait Miniature c1838
Directory: Fine Art: Paintings: Miniatures: Pre 1837 VR: Item # 1400308
Please refer to our stock # a1695 when inquiring.
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A miniature portrait by M.E. Mynerts (also referenced as W.E. Mynerts). Glazed and housed in a cast foliate case measuring 2 3/4" by 2 3/8", with an unglazed aperture on the reverse containing a braid of hair. The overall condition of the painting is excellent, with no cracks, chips, bowing, or restoration. The case is also in excellent condition.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Very little is known about Mynerts, and his miniatures are quite rare, with only one signed example found. However, his style is distinctive enough that unsigned examples, such as the one offered here, can be safely attributed to him based on the similarity to the signed example.
Most of what is known about him is based on the painter’s early nineteenth century newspaper advertisements and on one Charleston city directory. No record of his birth or death seems to exist. Mynerts was listed in the St. Louis (Mo) directory for 1836, but it is unknown how long he remained there. He could be the miniaturist identified as M.E. Mynert by William H. Gerdts, the noted art historian and author, who indicated this artist as visiting Nashville, TN, in 1836. From 1838 to 1840 Mynerts had an address in New Orleans at the Exchange Hotel on Poydras St.
