Americana & Folk Art

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This is a pair of portrait miniatures that I have been coveting and wearing for years.  I've finally decided to let them go to a new home.

In 1791, Scottish portrait miniature artist Archibald Robertson (1765-1835) was lured to the America with an offer to open a school of drawing in New York. He and one of his brothers opened the Columbian Academy of Painting. Archibald brought a new technique to America of using thin watercolor with cross-hatched brushstrokes which allowed the luminosity of the ivory to shine through. He has been called the most influential miniaturist to cross the ocean because his new technique changed the American style of painting miniatures forever.  Before Robertson's tutelage, American miniaturists were essentially painting miniature oil portraits by using heavy opaque paint, even in facial areas, Archibald taught that thick paint should be applied with discretion and used primarily for clothing. He wrote that “it ought to be an universal rule that that fewer colors you use the better—the greater simplicity the better.” He is known for having started the school of using short hatchings of paint through which the ivory glows. These portrait miniatures of siblings are indicative of Robertson’s light style in which the thin ivory wafer gives the portraits a glowing feel.  Each has Robertson’s distinguishable “AR” in which the two initials are joined together.  The portrait on the left is 1 5/8” x 1 1/2” not including the hanger. The portrait on the right if 1 1/4” x 1 1/2” not including the hanger.  The hangers add another 3/8" (not including loop). The portraits had never been framed when I acquired them. They are in very nice reproduction pendant frames in rose gold.  Circa 1790-1795.

(#3137)     $5500/pair

References: 

Barratt, Carrie Rebora & Zabar, Lori, American Portrait Miniatures in The Metropolitan Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. 65-66.

Aronson, Julie & Wieseman, Marjorie E., Perfect Likeness:  European and American Portrait Miniatures From the Cincinnati Art Museum, Yale University Press, 2006. 264-266.

Jaffe, Robin, Love and Loss: American Portrait and Mourning Miniatures, Yale University Press, 2000. 156 & Plate 81.

Signature on the miniature on the left.

Signature on the miniature on the right.

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