July - Five additons and a rare artist for the Guest Gallery

An image of the first miniature portrait was sent to me by a kind visitor for placing in the Guest Gallery, where rare or unusual miniatures belonging to other owners can be displayed.

It is a signed portrait of Catharine Putnam Brinley, by a very rare Canadian born artist of undoubted ability, who worked in Boston, Mary Elizabeth Lalanne (1808-1836). Her early death has clearly deprived us of many fine portraits. For more about her see View

The second miniature is also by a Canadian born artist, Gerald Sinclair Hayward (1845-1926). He was born in Port Hope Ontario, but spent much time in New York and in Britain, Germany, and Russia, where he painted many notables.

This miniature is signed and dated 1885, with the sitter being a famous author of Civil War letters, Dr John Gardner Perry. The letter are easy to read and reveal some of the horrors of the Civil War, both on and off the battlefield. To go direct to the letters, see Read Online  For much more about Perry see View  

The miniature of a cat (dog?) may seem out of place in this collection, but is signed and dated 1866 by William Bishop Ford. It is in enamel on gold, the only miniature on gold in the collection. It is only the size of a small fingernail and was originally set into a man's tiepin. For more see View 

In complete contrast the miniature of Mrs Robert Owen and her children, is huge for a miniature portrait on ivory, the sight size being 7 inches by 5 inches (180mm x 130mm). Research into the family is still in progress, and can be seen at View

Also showing are a pair of miniature portraits attributed to the Swiss artist, Johann-Jakob Muller (1762-1817).

Being in pen and watercolour on paper, they have faded and the paper has changed colour with age. They thus do show why there was such a preference for miniature portraits on ivory for those who could afford them.

The pair are still being researched, with more detail available at View

At my home page, I welcome the opportunity to add links to two more sites about miniature portraits. One in Poland Miniatury portretowe and another one in France  PORTRAIT MINIATURE ... EN FRANCE It is great to know that those interested in the subject are helping to make a large inter-linked resource for collectors and art historians. I am very grateful for the time and effort that all the other collectors have put into their own websites