GEORGE ENGLEHEART (BRITISH, 1750/1753 - 1829)

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An Introduction to Portrait Miniatures Contrary to popular belief, the term 'miniature' in the context of portrait miniature painting is not linked with its small format but derives from the Latin 'miniare', which means 'to colour with red lead'. The origin of the portrait miniature lies within the art of the illuminated manuscript, a large sheet of vellum inscribed with text, around which small illustrations were painted, typically using 'minium', or red lead. A small group of artists including Lucas Horenbout and Hans Holbein the Younger adopted these techniques and started producing small, independent portraits on vellum laid onto a piece of card, usually a playing card. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries these works of art were called 'limnings'. The term 'miniature' entered the vernacular in the 18th century. In the 16th and 17th centuries portrait miniatures were primarily used as diplomatic gifts, tokens of love and were sometimes exchanged during marriage negotiations. In some instances, the settings were considered more important than the portraits themselves and could be made of gold and finely decorated with enamel and embellished with jewels. Others were set into elaborately carved ivory boxes, such as one by Hans Holbein the Younger of Anne of Cleves (now in the Victoria & Albert Museum), painted for King Henry VIII for the purposes of deciding whether he should marry her or not, which is set in an ivory case carved in the form of a Tudor rose. Miniatures also reflected the cult of emblems and imprese which had become a key element of Elizabethan and Jacobean sensibilities and which expressed symbols of courtly love, melancholy and pageantry. Nicholas Hilliard is one of the most famous early pioneers of portrait miniature painting, patronised by Queen Elizabeth I and high-ranking members of the court including her favourites, whose portraits she sometimes wore pinned to her clothing. Hilliard contributed a great deal to today's understanding of the construction of 16th and 17th century miniatures with his Treatise on the Arte of Limning which outlines the methods and materials used to produce a miniature. Hilliard, the son of a goldsmith, and himself a goldsmith and jeweller at the start of his career, possessed a technical understanding of how to realistically portray precious jewels and textiles, as well as the artistic ability to successfully capture the likeness of his sitters. A fine example of his work is the portrait of a high-ranking lady of the Elizabethan court (lot 34, illustrated on the back cover). His great French-born contemporary, Isaac Oliver, spent time observing Hilliard's work and though he appeared to already be accomplished in the art of limning by the time he met Hilliard, the similarity of his miniatures to those by Hilliard clearly demonstrate the latter's influence. Oliver remained in Hilliard's shadow for much of his career but his appointment as 'painter for the Art ofLimning' to Anne of Denmark in 1605 led to the creation of some of the finest miniatures of the 17th century, notably the portrait of a young gentleman holding has hand to his chest (lot 44). Further changes in the approach to miniature painting by artists and their patrons occurred throughout the 17th century. Samuel Cooper, who has been described as the 'Van Dyck of portrait miniature painting', favoured realism over emblems and symbols and his clients were not limited to royals and high-ranking members of the court but extended to wealthy merchants and key protagonists of the Civil War, including Oliver Cromwell himself. Contemporary artists such as Thomas Flatman, Nicholas Dixon, Peter Cross and Richard Gibson adopted Cooper's style and the latter succeeded him as court painter to King Charles II. Towards the end of the 17th century a new form of miniature emerged: the plumbago (lots 103 - 105). This monochrome portrait was created by using graphite on parchment and originated from the print and book trade and was introduced to England by David Loggan in 1658. Though successful, the art of the plumbago had a relatively short existence. The early 18th century marks another key development in the art of the portrait miniature with an innovation by the Italian artist Rosalba Carriera who observed, whilst decorating the interior of ivory snuff-boxes, that ivory was a better support than vellum in the depiction of flesh tones. Artists were still required to prepare ivory before the application of paint but the process was much simpler than the preparation of vellum and ivory became easily accessible and affordable. The practice was adopted outside Italy and Bernard Lens became the first artist recorded in England to produce ivory miniatures. Vellum was abandoned completely and ivory remained the most common medium for miniatures until its decline towards the end of the 19th century. The portrait miniature became extremely popular in the 18th century and it became fashionable to sit for one's portrait. This demand created a new generation of miniature painters which included artists who were not hitherto considered as miniaturists but who wished to capitalise on an emerging fashion. As seen in the portrait of a lady called Susanna Home (lot 27), miniatures were often worn as jewellery: on a gold chain around one's neck, or set into a bracelet or ring. Others were mounted into objects of vertu, such as the portrait of Mrs Richard Milnes by John Smart (lot 60) which is set into a secret compartment of a gold snuff-box. Another emerging fashion popularised by connoisseurs like Horace Walpole was the collecting of portrait miniatures. Walpole exhibited his collection in a cabinet which hung in the Tribune at his gothic revival mansion, Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham (see lot 204). Similarly, Queen Caroline hung her miniatures alongside other small, precious works of art in her Closet at Kensington Palace. Richard Cosway, R.A. was one of the key exponents of miniature painting in the 18th century. He was court painter to King George III and, as he describes himself in his elaborate signature, 'Primarius Pictor Serenissimi Walliae Principis'. He was commissioned to paint miniatures of the royal family, resulting in the tender depiction of Princess Charlotte holding a dove (lot 144). His great contemporary, John Smart, exploited the emergence of the East India Company and spent ten years in India painting members of the Company and their families, and Indian princes, their families and entourages. Some leading miniature painters of this time established themselves among the wealthy elite in London, Bath and Dublin and others focussed on the members of the militaryas their target clients. Soldiers and sailors were painted before they departed for battle, leaving their loved ones with a likeness to cherish in their absence. Other miniaturists travelled to the front line and painted the key protagonists of the Napoleonic wars. The medium of portrait miniatures was not limited to vellum and ivory but also included enamels on copper and gold. Whereas the art of limning derived from the art of the illuminated manuscript, the enamel miniature derived from the art of decorative enamelling, as seen on lockets or miniature cases (lots 35, 95 and 99). One of the earliest enamel painters, Jean Petitot, trained as a goldsmith in Geneva and came to England where he received instruction from Van Dyck. He, in turn, taught his son, Jean Petitot the Younger the art of enamelling and both were employed by King Charles I and King Louis XIV. The output of the Anglo-German enamel painter Christian Friedrich Zincke was vast and he can be considered the most prolific enamel painter of the 18th century until the emergence of Henry Bone, R.A., whose desire to push the boundaries of enamel painting led to the production of larger scale enamels. This required a greater understanding of how copper and paint behaved during the firing process, and Bone probably only obtained this through trial and error. In the early 18th century the Swedish artist Charles Boit had attempted an enamel measuring 16 x 24 inches commemorating the Battle of Blenheim for Prince George of Denmark. He received a substantial advance and spent several years working on the enamel but eventually abandoned the project and fled to France to escape the consequences of his failure. The appetite for larger portrait miniatures painted on ivory during the 19th century is reflected in works by Sir William Charles Ross and his contemporaries Robert Thorburn and Eduardo Moira, court painters to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The invention of photography and its widespread popular appeal led to a decline in demand for the traditional portrait miniature though there was a brief period during which the two disciplines co-existed in the form of overpainted photographs. These had the appearance of a miniature but could be created more quickly and economically and did not require the skill of a portrait painter. Valerie Eliot's collection of portrait miniatures, formed over twenty years, charts the development of the portrait miniature in England from its inception in the 16th century with a work by Lucas Horenbout of a gentleman, possibly Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and 1st Viscount Lisle (c. 1484-1545), which has been generously donated to the Victoria & Albert Museum by The Old Possum's Practical Trust, to its demise in the early 20th century. This closing chapter is aptly highlighted by an over-painted photograph of Mrs Eliot which remains in her family. In between these markers are works by the leading portrait miniature painters of the genre which serve as examples of the changing tastes and fashions of the artist's patrons, the development of techniques by the artists themselves, and the various functions of miniatures. These works of art are examples of our social history and many of them also serve as historical records of the iconography of British historical subjects.

Details

GEORGE ENGLEHEART (BRITISH, 1750/1753 - 1829)
A young lady, in white dress, wearing a straw hat on her upswept curling powdered hair; sky background
on ivory
oval, 1.3/8 in. (43 mm.) high, gold frame with split-pearl border

Provenance

Edward Grosvenor Paine (1911-1989) Collection, New Orleans, La.; Christie's, London, 12 October 1982, lot 101.
Edward Grosvenor Paine (1911-1989) Collection, New Orleans, La.; (+) Christie's, London, 15 October 1996, lot 34.
With D. S. Lavender (Antiques) Ltd., in 1999.

Special Notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Sale Room Notice

Please note that the miniature is 1¾ in. high.

Brought to you by

Katharine Cooke

kcooke@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2343

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