Portrait Miniatures The Children

This is a collection of Miniature Portraits on Ivory of Children from the Federal, Georgian, Regency and Early Victorian Eras. Hand painted miniatures were the early likenesses that patrons had commissioned by miniature artists before the invention of the camera. Most of these portraits are meticulously hand painted with watercolor on ivory or sometimes oil colors with the aid of a reducing glass to view the sitter in smaller form. The miniatures range from 2 inches to 4 inches sometimes as large as 6 or 8 inches. The ivory used in which the artists painted on was elephant ivory sliced into wafers the width of the elephant tusk, hence the oval shape of the portraits. These miniatures were usually encased in gold and occasionally adorned with jewels or pearls. Often they contained a lock of plaited hair on the reverse side from the loved one alive or deceased as a memento. The children portraits were especially treasured because of the high mortality rate of children who usually did not survive into adulthood. Thank you for watching!