I’ve been an inveterate
haunter of antique stores and junk shops since my teens, because...well...old stuff! I love antique china and
glassware and jewelry as well as fashion prints and dance cards, and make time
at least once a month to check out my local consignment shops.
Last month, I hit the jackpot.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZsCm2YSFZawg_RmxRTEMoUu6HydrM1415IsJnq_YCJ1FZ5J2eu3igOwhO1E1PbddxeBEtNlbQ5g0OfkdLmPyT-TzMkIpPHfJ85UEH6JJiG0_nmQagpK7ExDQ5sKtE1pv4ZOFs1LmSnSRc/s320/Miniature+front+2.jpg)
This delightful miniature of a
young man (what do you think? I put him at about age 18 or 20) measures
2 ½ inches inches long
by 2 inches wide. It looks to be painted on ivory; there’s a bit of damaged paint
around the edges and on on his shirtfront. The craftsmanship is good but the style to me feels perhaps a little naive;
it’s possible to see in he close-up at right where the lower contours of the face were corrected, evidently
having initially been painted in too full. Notice the delicate points of his shirt just peeping above his stock; no dandy, this lad!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh79bF3qIXjqcq-M5pEAxDKIxGMB4CvqDjgGxyUyP_FG6eBIHNFHw6-OYATrWhPSy5BUfa-2NblsWnZVum5APdutpkIvUfR_Zufsim7TTMRAWPkR8azWFhwr9kO2Fi1uGZEmVFahw72z5H7/s320/Miniature+back+1.jpg)
The case appears to be brass, well made with a fine rope
detail around the face. What is interesting is the back of the case: there’s
another smaller framed opening, in which there’s a scrap of black cloth; of
course, I immediately started speculating on why it’s there (was it from the
young man’s coat, maybe? Snipped off by a sweetheart, or saved by a doting
mother or sister?)
Alas, there is no
identification accompanying the piece. Based on the clothing (the high lapels
and sloping shoulders of his coat, the black stock rather than a cravat) and
hairstyle, my guess is that this miniature is from some time later in the 1820s
to perhaps a year or two into the 1830s. Again, stories begin to well up as I
look at it: was this perhaps a young man about to leave for university to study for the church (those modest shirt points again) painted for a doting parent? Was it (sorry to be a downer) painted after
his untimely death, as his image has a certain air of fragility about it (plus that
scrap of cloth...was that white stain left by tears?)
What do you think?
2 comments:
I think it's a mourning locket with a scrap of clothing rather than hair. I wonder who he was and what his story was? How sad that he has been forgotten. I really really hate seeing antique photos in shops. It makes me very sad for the people. I stick to books!
I don't know--I like old photos. For me, it brings home the reality of those who came before us as human beings who lived and loved and felt, just like us.
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