June - An addition and queries about miniatures

Addition to the collection
One of the purposes of this website was to make available information about miniature painters which was unavailable from other sources. Examples of the work of two artists have been added.

One is this miniature of Miss Vinnie Brown by Claudia Veva O'Brien. More about it can be see at O'Brien, Claudia Veva - portrait of Vinnie Brown

She seems to have preferred to call herself Veva O'Brien and appears to be a previously unrecorded American artist who was born in Kansas.

I receive queries every week, and here are three examples of them.

Miniatures by Phillips

Another artist has been sent to me by the person owns this nice pair and who is seeking to know more about an artist named Phillips who painted these miniatures.

I have shown what we have so far found out about the artist in the Guest Gallery at Miniatures by Phillips

Any further information would be appreciated by the owner.

Ebenezer Mack
A couple of months ago, the Columbus Museum sent me this image asking if I knew the artist, as they were contemplating its purchase. I replied that I thought it was by Ebenezer Mack, whose work is rare.

That initial opinion was then confirmed by an expert on American miniatures and the museum has now decided to proceed with the purchase. The formal credit is thus;
Portrait of a Gentleman
ca. 1790
watercolor on ivory
2 ¾ x 2 ¼ inches
Ebenezer Mack
active in New York and Philadelphia 1785-1808
Collection of the Columbus Museum, Georgia
Museum purchase made possible by the Art Acquisitions and Restoration Fund

It was good to be able to help the museum and I am happy to try and assist any other museum to identity miniature portraits.

Percy Pack
Recently, I mentioned as an example of the variety of question that I get asked, the following; "I started a search this morning on miniature portraits as I'm trying find the owner of a miniature that I found a copy of in an old magazine. The publishing company is no longer in business so I haven't had any luck in that department. His name was Percy Pack and he was a surgeon of the 41st Regiment of Foot in the late 1790's - early 1800's until he became sick and died in 1804. I am currently working on a book of the 41st Regiment when they served in Canada from 1799 until 1815 so it's vital I get permission to us this portrait. Can you possibly steer me in the right direction on how to find the owner?"

To which I could only reply, "If you can send me the image I am happy to post it in my April comments and see if anyone recognises it or owns it, but I think you would be lucky. Otherwise you could do what I have seen elsewhere, and make a statement along these lines. "Attempts have been made to contact the current owners of all the portraits used, some without success, but I am very happy to acknowledge them in future editions of this book.""

The owner has now sent me this image of the miniature and is still keen to find the owner. He advises "Here is a scanned copy of the miniature I found in the thirtieth issue of "Regiment - The Military Collection" published in 1998. Like I had said, Percy Pack was a surgeon of the 41st Regiment of Foot in the late 1700's - early 1800's and died in 1804." Any other information about images of other members of the 41st would be welcomed by the owner.