One usually thinks of the American miniature painters working primarily in the Northeast and South, but it was interesting to note in an article from the St. Louis Mercantile Library the number of miniaturists who had worked in that city. 

 The link to the article is: http://www.umsl.edu/mercantile/fine-art/collection/history3.html , and the sources the author used include city directories, the Mercantile Library’s special files, and the writings of John Francis McDermott and others. The article says: “Dates reflect times by which listed artists flourished in the city. Often, only the last name was given in an ad, a notice, a letter. The list is a tantalizing reminder of St. Louis as an art center and hopefully will serve as an opportunity for further research.”

 1820-Jeremiah Paul

1832-George Catlin

1836-M.E. Mynerts

1839-Edward Marchant

1840-Hugh Bridport

1841-Jonathan Trego

1846-Sarah Miriam Peale

1849-John Wood Dodge

The following information is from the website ( http://philaantiques.com/about/index.html  ) for the 2009 Philadelphia Antiques Show, which will take place this year April 18-21.

The 2009 featured loan exhibit, Patriots and Presidents: Philadelphia Portrait Miniatures, 1760-1860, will chronicle more than a century of portrait miniatures, including those of Benjamin Franklin, Philadelphia’s most famous citizen, as well as former presidents and patriots. A collection of small, portable portraits depicting early Philadelphia’s most prominent figures celebrates Philadelphia’s history as the center of American government and commerce in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Ivory, oil on copper, and watercolor miniatures of early American presidents and historical figures will be displayed in an exceptional museum-quality exhibit. Curated by Philadelphia collectors of Americana Dr. Robert and Katharine Booth with the assistance of Exhibition Adviser Elle Shushan, the exhibit features objects loaned by prominent national museums, notable local institutions, and several private collectors.

A catalogue is available for $20. Please contact: contact@philaantiques.com .

As per the previous post, regarding the idea of the American miniatures dictionary and guide, when I come across images of miniatures by little known artists (primarily American, since they are less documented, but also occasionally English and Continental), I’ll post them here. 

This will provide the opportunity for any viewers to compare and contrast any American School miniatures they may have, to possibly come up with an artist identification or attribution.

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Mynert, M. E. : American.  Active St. Louis, MO, 1836;    New Orleans, LA, 1838-40.

This  miniature  of a young man is signed on the back and dated N. Orleans, 1842. It is said to be the portrait of  Charles J. Leeds (1822-98), who was the 33rd mayor of New Orleans, from 1874-76.  William Gerdts identifys Mynert as having visited Nashville, TN, in 1836. Photos courtesy of Edward Sheppard.

 

 

 The  miniature of a young man below is attributed by Ed Sheppard to Mynert, based on the signed miniature by Mynert sabove. Photo courtesy of Edward Sheppard.

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Miller, William H. : 1820-c. 1860+.  American.  Active  NY.    

The miniature of the man is signed Miller, NY, and is from the ex-collection of Tom Porter. The artist is probably William H. Miller of New York, who practiced for a time with William Hillyer. The miniature of the woman below that  is signed William Miller. It’s interesting to note that both the man and the woman are seated on a red sofa–perhaps a sofa that was in Miller’s studio.  See Groce and Wallace for further information on this artist. Photo of woman courtesy of Edward Sheppard.

 

 

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Allen, Sarah Lockhart:  1793-1877.  American. Active Salem,  MA.  

Allen is listed in Theodore Bolton’s book. She was born, and died, in Salem, Massachusetts, and was working there as early as 1820. She was a miniaturist and a crayon portraitist. Further sources include: G&W; Belknap, Artists and Craftsmen of Essex County, 6; Bolton, Miniature Painters, and Crayon Draftsmen; cf. Miss — Allen.

This miniature is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and is a copy of a portrait of Bertel Thorwaldsen, holding a mallet.  Photo credit Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

 

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Scarborough, William Harrison: 1812-1871. American.  Active SC.

Born in Dover, Tennessee, Scarborough studied art and medicine in Cincinnati and worked for several years as a portraitist in Tennessee before moving to to South Carolina in 1830. After marrying into a prominent family in 1836, he settled in Darlington, SC, for a few years and then relocated permanently to Columbia, SC in 1843. There the artist gained considerable success as a painter of portraits and miniatures, painting the state’s political leaders and the faculty of South Carolina College. He also worked in North Carolina and Georgia, and made frequent visits to NYC. Scarborough traveled to Europe (1857-58) and on his return tried to establish an art gallery in Columbia, but the destruction of the city during the Civil War brought an end to this endeavor. Sources: G&W; Hennig, William Harrison Scarborough, contains an account of the artist’s life and a checklist of his work; F.F. Sherman in Antiques (Dec. 1933), pages 27-29, identified this artist as John Scarborough; but Sherman corrected this error in Antiques (Oct. 1934), page 149. More recently, see Gerdts, Art Across America, vol. 2: 61, 64, 138.   Text from Artprice.com. Photo courtesy of a private collector.

 

 

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Mercer, William: 1772-1850.  American. Active PA;  VA.  

Mercer painted portraits, historical paintings and miniatures.  He worked in Pennsylvania and also apparently in Virginia. The miniature below, is in the collection of the Virginia Historical Society, is signed with a monogram,  circa 1790 and is of Edmund Pendleton. Photo credit Virginia Historical Society.

 

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Trego, Jonathan K.:  1817-c. 1868.  American. Active PA;   St. Louis, MO, 1841. 

Trego painted portraits, animal and historical paintings, and genre paintings and the occasional portrait miniature.  From a Quaker background, Trego worked and lived in Philadelphia possibly in the late 1840s and definitely in the 1850s, as well as Bucks County.  In 1841 he was in St. Louis.

The miniature of a man directly below is signed at the lower left.  The two miniatures of a man and woman  below  sold at Northeast Auctions in February 2007.  They were painted in Bucks County, and are of Smith Trego, Jonathan’s brother, and Ann Trego, either Smith’s wife or Jonathan’s wife. It is not specified if they were signed.  Photo of signed man courtesy of Edward Sheppard.

 

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C. G. Wetmore: American. Active MD, SC, c. 1820-c. 1840.

Groce and Wallace say that Wetmore was a portrait and miniature painter in Charleston, South Carolina in 1822. He was also an agent for the Baltimore Floor Cloth Manufactury.  The miniature below is in the collection of the  Maryland Historical Society.  The sitter is Thomas Martin Maund (1794-1838).  The miniature is signed at the lower right, and a printed card behind the miniature says: -J. Wetmore/Miniature Painter.  Photo credit Maryland Historical Society.

 

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Sarah “Sally” Gardner: 1799-1862. American. Active Nantucket, MA.

Gardner is listed in Groce and Wallace as a portrait painter of Nantucket, with works in the collection of the Nantucket Historical Association, including the two miniatures below. The NHA doesn’t specify if these miniatures are signed or attributed. The second miniature is purportedly of a sitter named John Chinery.

The  Discussion on Sarah Gardner can  be found in Picturing Nantucket: An Art History of the Island With Paintings from the Collection of the Nantucket Historical Association, by Michael A. Jehle.   Photo credits Nantucket Historical Association.

 

There’s a real need for a comprehensive  dictionary and guide for American portrait miniatures (along the lines of Daphne Foskett’s dictionary on English miniatures).  It’s astounding to go through Theodore Bolton’s book and see how many miniaturists are listed whose works are apparently now in the wind. (Bolton’s book has very few images, or it would be a greater help as far as identifying artists). 

There’s scholarship available on American miniaturists–but it’s scattered far and wide in a variety of books and articles. Likewise,  there are many miniatures in many U.S. museums across the country, as well as historical societies and other public collections (such as the Tennesse Portrait Project), and in a number of private collections, but these haven’t been cross-referenced and assessed en suite.   Once that’s done, the scholarship can then be advanced.

Unsigned American miniatures come on the market every day,  and languish unidentified.  A comprehensive dictionary of American miniatures and miniaturists–with examples by each artist, a brief history of each artist, and a description of the artist’s techniques–would go far to help identify  American School miniatures, and expand the knowledge on this  American art form.  In particular the American Revivalists need some coverage, as there’s a dearth of material.  If the information were consolidated  significant progress could be made in the study of American portrait miniatures, and it would add  important knowledge to America’s  history. Miniatures are a vital part of our fine art, social and political past. It’s hard for others to take our miniaturists seriously if we don’t  take them seriously.  As well, such a book introduces them to a wider audience–which, in turn, brings more visitors to the museums, exhibitions, and lectures on miniatures. And there’s wider potential audience than even that–most English and European parties interested in portrait miniatures known very little about American miniatures, and a dictionary would bring interest in them into an international realm.

I think with the publication of the first edition that then a good deal of material presently in private collections would come forth, and enrich and update a second edition.  Just the other day, for instance, an accidental conversation with a blogger led to the discovery of a Benbridge with an identified sitter–it has been in her  family for 200 years (and, alas for collectors, will remain so).

As well, there may be important information already collated by individuals. Edward (Grosvenor) Paine supposedly left behind a comprehensive manuscript on miniatures that he used as a sales tool. Likewise there’s supposed to be material in the Chieffo estate.  The Lewis Rabbage estate papers on Revival artists are apparently now with the Worcester Museum.  

In the meantime, I, as have some others, have been keeping  research files on miniaturists, recording every  identified artist I come across as well as any information on them.   For anyone out there who has images of signed, inscribed or firmly identified American miniatures, especially by the more scarce artists, as well as any accompanying information (provenance, exhibitions, etc) then please send them along and I’ll add them to the files.

A well-written and information article on 19th century miniaturist Abraham Parsell of New York City written by Vincent DiCicco and Howard P. Fertig may be found at the Antiques and Fine Art site: http://antiquesandfineart.com/articles/article.cfm?request=865 . An interesting note about Parsell is that his son John was also listed as a miniature painter:

“The Dogget directory7 for 1843-44 is the first to include Abraham’s son, John H., also listed as an artist and at the same 46 McDougal Street address. Subsequent directory listings indicate that John H. remained with his father at that address until 1848. The 1848-49 directory lists John H. still as an artist, but now on his own at 34 Commerce. In the 1851-52 directory he is back at 46 McDougal.”

The conjecture one is then led to upon learning this is that perhaps some of the miniatures attributed to Abraham Parsell  could possibly have been by his son.

Edward Sheppard says: “The only signed Parsell was one with his name and address printed on the silk lining of the wallet case.”  Photo of man from Christine Archibald Portrait Miniatures. Photo of woman courtesy of Edward Sheppard.

 

The Lincoln Journal has the following article on an exhibition of contemporary eye miniatures:

“Lincoln – Sweethearts and lovers should flock to Clark Gallery this Valentine’s Day to view the current exhibition, Tabitha Vevers: “Moments of Being.”

A series of miniature paintings entitled “Lover’s Eyes” are featured in the show. Vevers created this group of captivating, symbolic, and evocative miniatures on ivorine after becoming intrigued by the 18th-century practice of bestowing an exquisitely painted miniature on ivory of the giver’s eye as a token of love and affection.

The eye miniatures were popular from the 1780s to around 1830, as the giver’s most soulful feature was presented to the loved one in the form of a brooch, ring, or locket. Vevers’ series depicts women’s eyes culled from masterpieces throughout art history, ranging from Titian of the Italian Renaissance to contemporary artist Chuck Close. The exhibition runs through Feb. 28.

Clark Gallery is located at the Mall at Lincoln Station, 145 Lincoln Road, in Lincoln, and is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.”

 The gallery’s URL is: http://www.clarkgallery.com/  The link to the artist’s page is: http://www.clarkgallery.com/artist.html?guid=7285B26F-1072-427C-ACAB-8CB43281FAEC   A couple images from the exhibition are shown here.

 

 

Elizabeth Berdann, a well-reviewed artist living in New York City, has for a number of years created works of art on a small scale, and recently began taking commissions for portrait miniatures. Her paintings are “exquisitely painted, ” says Art in America.  Limned with a clear, bright palette and a spare, honest approach that is very American in style, her portraits are both warm and disarmingly honest. She paints in watercolor on mammoth ivory, and in oil on copper, and draws in conte on vellum. For further information on her commissioned portraits, please see her brochure: http://www.elizabethberdann.com/media/portraitminiatures.pdf  .  The link to her website is http://www.elizabethberdann.com/gallery_miniaturesJewelry.htm .

America’s First First Lady: Foxy or Frumpy?

Historians use technology to revamp Martha Washington’s image

 By BRIGID SCHULTE WASHINGTON POST

Feb. 4, 2009, 12:07 AM

  

 

 

 

     Forensic anthropologists used a 1796 portrait miniature by James Peale to generate an image of how Martha  Washington might have looked in her 20s.

 

WASHINGTON – This just in: Martha Washington was hot. Or at least hotter than we thought.

Our image of the mother of our country, vague and insubstantial as it is, is drawn from portraits painted after her death showing a frumpy, dumpy, plump old lady, a fussy jumble of needlework in her lap, wearing what could pass for a shower cap with pink sponge rollers underneath.

But today, 250 years after Martha and George tied the knot, a handful of historians are seeking to revamp the former first lady’s fusty image, using the few surviving records of things she wrote, asking forensic anthropologists to do a computerized age-regression portrait of her in her mid-20s and, perhaps most importantly, displaying for the first time in decades the avant-garde deep purple silk high heels studded with silver sequins that she wore on her wedding day.

Take that, Sally Fairfax.

History is about to be revised. 

See full article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/02/02/ST2009020201419.html?sid=ST2009020201419&s_pos=list

A new addition to Philip Mould Ltd in London is a rare small portrait painted by John Trumbull, in oil on mahogany. Measuring 4 x 3 1/8 inches, the painting is of attorney-at-law William West, who was brother to the artist Benjamin West. The portrait was painted in Philadelphia in 1793.

Another example of Trumbull’s small-scale portraits on mahogany is the one of Thomas Jefferson, in the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art.

Further information on this new–and apparently already sold– discovery may be found at: http://www.historicalportraits.com/InternalMain.asp  , as well as: http://www.courant.com/entertainment/arts/hc-trumbull.artjan31,0,2619601.story  .The link to the Philip Mould main website is http://www.philipmould.com/news.php. 

Word has it that the Trumbull has been promised to the April exhibition of Philadelphian portrait miniatures, in Philadelphia.

An interesting quote on Robert Field:

Robert Field’s miniature of Charles Carnan Ridgely Jr., painted in 1800 while the artist was en route from Philly to Washington, shows [the boy] at the age of sixteen…scholar Harry Piers commented: “It is Field’s only known portrait of so young a lad.” Indeed, for reasons unknown, the artist seems to have painted children only on very rare occasions. In general, teenage boys were relatively infrequent subjects for portrait miniatures, which often commemorated rites of passage Past the threat of childhood disease and too young for marriage, adolescents were in an awkward transitional state that apparently few parents of the time desired to record in this most intimate art form.

–Page 175, Aronson, Julie, and Wieseman, Marjorie E. Perfect Likeness: European and American Portrait Miniatures from the Cincinnati Art Museum, Yale University Press, 2006.