British Portrait Miniatures from the Thomson Collection

Portrait miniatures were highly prized in Europe for nearly four hundred years and,
unusually, artists based in Britain were the acknowledged masters of this specialised
fi eld. Many of the best painters are represented in this remarkable but relatively
little-known collection. As is illustrated and described in this book, miniatures were
frequently made as tokens of love or memorials of loved ones; part-likeness, partreliquary
and part-jewel, they might be wearable in a locket, on a bracelet or even on a
fi nger ring, but their portability also made them desirable as gifts.
Styles, techniques and modes of presentation naturally evolved between 1560 (the
date of the fi rst miniature in the catalogue) and around 1900. Some changes happened
rapidly; in England, for example, the foundation of exhibiting societies in 1760s
created a demand for larger miniatures that could hang on the wall alongside full-sized
portraits. The Thomson collection includes fi ne examples of the work of Nicholas
Hilliard (from the Elizabethan period) and John Smart (from the eighteenth century)
as well as notable portraits by less familiar names such as Jacob Van Doordt and James
Scouler. It is apparent from the scope and character of his acquisitions that Ken
Thomson never planned an encyclopaedic collection. Reacting to miniatures that spoke
most eloquently to him when held in the hand, or examined under a glass, he developed
over time a fondness for particular artists and had no qualms about omitting others
altogether.
Using this collection housed at the Art Gallery of Ontario as a case study,
the catalogue discusses the function of miniatures, their material presence, the
circumstances in which they were made and aspects of their later history. The homes
and studios of the most successful painters, as sumptuous as those occupied by oil
painters, often passed from one generation to another: here, one key property in
Covent Garden is described and illustrated. In this book, for the fi rst time, a number of
specialist artists’ suppliers are identifi ed, showing where ivory could be obtained and
enamel plates prepared and fi red. The links between enamelling for clock and watch
faces and enamelling for miniatures are demonstrated. The illicit practice within the
late nineteenth and early twentieth century art trade of duplicating old miniatures,
a topic generally avoided in the literature, is addressed here. Miniatures are di  cult
to display in museums, but recently-developed photographic methods of identifying
pigments are also proving to be a way of introducing a new audience to this multilayered
subject. Eighteen years after Ken Thomson’s death, there could not be a more
opportune moment to highlight his collection.