All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1837 VR item #1464473 (stock #a1859)
A striking and colorful R. Mills miniature portrait of a blue-eyed blonde woman. The subject is wearing a white gown with lace edging and balloon sleeves, a blue necklace and sash belt. Those colors nicely complement the carefully chosen background, which is blue with pink tinges, which also complements her ruddy or over-rouged cheeks.

The painting is signed on the backing paper "Painted by Rd Mills Birmingham 1829" and is housed in a 4 1/4" by 3 5/8" bronze frame...

All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1800 item #1463004 (stock #a1834)
A fine c1751 miniature watercolor on natural wafer, signed and dated by J. Lacon. The sitter is wearing a décolleté white dress and a lace underslip. The trimming of the blue ribbons provides a pop of color and wonderful contrast to the rest of the painting. Presented in a gilt metal reeded frame with remnants of collection labels on the reverse. 1 7/8" by 1 1/2".

Lacon (fl. c1740 - 1760) worked in Bath, England, painting miniatures and water color portraits...

All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1837 VR item #1471975 (stock #a1893)
A powerful watercolor on wafer miniature, where the artist decided to show the sitter staring head-on and almost directly at the viewer. The unusual crisscross tie is used to further enhance the strength and immediacy of the handsome subject.

The simple gilt metal case is 2 3/8" by 2", and is in excellent condition, with a missing cover glass to the aperture on the reverse, which is of no import.

All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1900 item #1298937
Antique Anne Queen of Brittany French Miniature Portrait, 4.5''x3.25'' Framed. The piece is marked ''Anne de Bretagne'' on verso. She was a 15th century Queen of Brittany, France from 1488 to 1514. Ornate gilt floral frame. Condition Report; No imperfections noted.
All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1837 VR item #1282012 (stock #a1395)
A fine example of an Abraham Parsell watercolor on organic wafer. The sitter, with brown hair and hazel eyes, is dressed in a black coat and cravat and a white shirt with gold stickpin. The background is done in the multi-color style typical of Parsell's work, as is the sketch on the reverse of the wafer.

The 2 3/8" by 2" sight size miniature is housed in a cast foliate case with a glazed lens on the reverse...

All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1900 item #1475301 (stock #a1911)
A wonderful pair of miniature portraits of two young near identical twin boys, painted on organic material. Although it might often be a decent bet that any attractive English portraits of young children done in this time period were by William Egley (joking, sort of) I cannot, in good conscience, make that attribution, so the artist will, at least for now, remain unidentified.

Possibly Scottish, and in excellent condition, each portrait has a sight size of 1 7/8" by 1 1/2"...

All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1900 item #1455249 (stock #FA87)
Antique, 19th century, of superb quality, finely hand-painted on an organic wafer, miniature portrait of a lady wearing an elegant dress.

The painting is signed and illegibly dated (possibly 1889) at her right shoulder. Set under glass in the original oval brass frame adorned with a bow at the top.

The back of the frame is fitted with a hinged easel and is lined with green velvet.

Dimensions of the oval frame with a bow: High: 9.7 cm (3.8 inches)...

All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1837 VR item #1473600 (stock #a1871)
Meet Captain William Hathaway, of Brooklyn NY, who passed away in 1834, according to the original section of his obituary, which was found inside the case of the miniature. Please note the gold anchor centered on his ruffled shirt.

The painting is finely done, with no condition issues. Any apparent flaws are due to my poor photographic skills. The in-person brightness is about midway between the first two photos...

All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1800 item #1474945 (stock #a1899)
A miniature of a beautiful young child who unfortunately passed away in 1798. The theme here is blue and white: in the clouds, in Harriet's eyes, and the ribbon in her hair. In contrast to that are the small areas where red makes its appearance: in the necklace, the child's lips and cheeks, and, to a lesser extent, in her hair.

The reverse of the case is engraved "Harriet Franklyn/B. 9 Oct 1795 D. 31 August 1798/Daughter of/Richard Franklyn/One of the Moneyers/of H...

All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1837 VR item #1307719 (stock #a1442)
A totally charming miniature painting of a child, done in watercolor on natural material, and housed in an elaborately molded 15K gold case and surround. The cute sitter is in a white gown and posed against a cloud-filled blue sky, with foliage and a tree to the right. The reverse of the case is glazed, with a lock of hair in the aperture, and a pin so that the miniature can be worn as a brooch.

The condition of this lovely example is excellent...

All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1800 item #1389872 (stock #a1680)
A finely painted watercolor portrait of a good looking gentleman wearing a black jacket and a white shirt, stock and collar. The talented artist specifically painted the entire piece in shades of white, black, and gray. Note the way he used white highlighting on the left collar and shoulder of the sitter to give a sense of depth to the piece.

The back of this work deserves special mention as it is composed of a backing of metal guilloche...

All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1837 VR item #1250181 (stock #a1365)
A nicely painted miniature portrait, on natural organic material, of a pretty young woman in a blue dress with a white fichu. Condition of the painting is excellent, with no problems. The glass in the rear aperture of the case is cracked. Overall size is 2 3/4" by 2 1/4".
All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1900 item #1489510 (stock #FA134)
This is an antique French Napoleonic miniature portrait of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte from the second half of the 19th century. The portrait is finely hand-painted in enamel and is located on the front of a solid silver mirror-slide-locked pendant designed in the shape of an elaborate shield.

This stunning portrait portrays Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in his iconic stance, with his hand in his vest and dressed in his renowned uniform as the Colonel of Chasseurs Cheval de la Garde Imperia...

All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1900 item #950029 (stock #a1136)
A fine miniature portrait painting, on natural organic material, done by John Alexander McDougall...
All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1837 VR item #1368966 (stock #a1629)
A wonderful portrait miniature of an attractive young woman, painted in watercolor and gouache on organic wafer. The sitter, set against a bluish gray background, has a tortoiseshell comb in her hair and is wearing a black dress with lace at the cuffs and at the neckline. Pearl earrings and gold chains complete her ensemble.

The painting is in excellent condition, with no flaws. The red leather travel case has wear to the inside and outside, is missing the tiny eye the hook clasp goes through,...

All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1700 item #1399580 (stock #na143)
A fine watercolor on vellum painting of an aristocratic woman. The sitter, a blue-eyed blonde powder haired woman who is coquettishly toying with a long lock of her hair, is gloriously decked out in a very low cut white gown with a red shawl. The gown is partially held up by a long strand of diamond and gold jewelry with a matching bracelet on her left arm. Farther up that arm the sleeve of the gown is cinched by a diamond and pearl brooch. A pearl bracelet circles her right arm.

A label on p...

All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1800 item #1293024 (stock #a1420)
An excellent example of the work of David Gibson, signed, lower left, "Gibson 1793". The sitter is a woman wearing a gown with low decolletage and a green and yellow hat. She is posed looking pensively to the viewer's left.

The painting is in excellent condition, with no flaws to speak of, and is in a gilt metal pendant case. Sight size is 1 7/8" by 1 3/8", and the case size is 2" by 1 5/8".

NOTE: David Gibson (active 1788 - 1797) worked primarily in London and Edinburgh, with some sojourns ...

All Items : Fine Art : Paintings : Miniatures : Pre 1837 VR item #1078397 (stock #a1237)
A miniature portrait painting by Abraham Parsell, done in his recognizable style with somewhat frizzy hair, and the sitter posed with his arm on a chair. Housed in its original cast foliate frame with a rear aperture containing a lock of hair.

The painting is 2 5/16" by 1 7/8", while the overall locket size is 2 1/2" by 2 1/8". Condition is excellent with no chips, cracks, bowing, paint loss or restoration.

Note: Abraham Parsell (1792 - after 1856), a popular American folk miniature painte...