Mr. C. Bradshaw

A form popular in England and on the Continent from the late sixteenth through the mid-nineteenth centuries, portrait miniatures assumed a range of formats. As the name implies, they were small in scale and designed for intimate viewing. Monarchs, nobles, and politicians exchanged them as favors; others were given as tokens of love or friendship. They were worn on the body like jewels, or set into cases, snuffboxes, or other small, precious objects. Delicately drawn and often brilliantly colored, they might be painted on vellum, enamel, copper, or paper, but from the early eighteenth century onward, ivory was the preferred material. The Art Museum has an impressive collection of portrait miniatures from England, Europe, and America.

The portrait miniature proved more popular in England than in any other country. Richard Cosway was probably the most influential, flamboyant, and successful miniaturist in England at the height of the medium’s popularity (ca. 1785–1820). With fluid, spontaneous brushstrokes he exploited the natural translucency of the ivory support, producing likenesses that embody the stylishness and frivolity of fashionable society at the turn of the nineteenth century. His portrait of "Mr. C. Bradshaw" is particularly well preserved.