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This is stunning tiny silhouette brooch from Miers & Field.  Painted with watercolor on ivory and exuberantly embellished with gold, this tiny brooch represents the best in silhouette jewelry.  The detail work is incredible when you consider that the entire brooch is slightly less than 7/8" tall x 5/8" wide.  Please see the second photo with a penny to really grasp the tiny size of this beautiful piece of antique jewelry.  Just below the bust-line termination, it is signed "Miers & Field".  There is some dust under the glass and I think the line in front of the gentleman's face is a stray strand of hair.....but I'm having a lot of trouble seeing it even under a loupe.  I could be a scratch but I don't think it is.  The back of the brooch has an even tinier hair receptacle with braided hair inside.  It bears the original, working T-hinge and C-clasp.  I was told that this piece is 9 ct. gold but since I don't have the means to test, I can't verify that. 

After the death of the master silhouettist, John Miers, his son William Miers went into partnership with John Field.  Field had been the principal artist in John Miers studio for many years as the old man moved away from doing the painting himself.  Field painted most of the silhouettes from John Miers studio at 111 Strand, London.  He is considered one of the finest silhouettists of his time.  Most of the work he produced for Miers was signed "Miers" by Field.  John Meir's will provided a condition that son William Miers and John Field could purchase the studio at 111 Strand jointly, as partners.  Their partnership, which had a bitter side, lasted from about 1823 until about 1829.  William Miers was a metalworking and is not believed to have painted any silhouettes himself.  It is most likely that Miers made this gold brooch in which Field would place the lovely miniature.

This is a lovely, very wearable piece of antique jewelry with an exquisite silhouette by an acclaimed artist.  Circa 1823-1829.

(#4866)     $1250

Please see the Silhouettist Biographies page for more information about John Meirs & John Field.

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