What’s It Wednesday – Miniatures
According to Aesop, “Good things come in small packages.” In this case, it is art in miniature.
Before there were photographs and photographers, there were Portrait artists who with their skill, captured the likenesses of people. Some preferred to work in miniature.
The word miniature comes from the Italian, miniature, which means, small picture, or manuscript illumination, and the Latin, miniare means to paint red. Portrait miniatures first appeared on illuminated manuscripts in the 1400s; and red lead was used to color in the capital letters in the script. During the late 1400s and 1500s artists adopted the technique used in the illuminations, to paint small portraits on vellum (made from calf skin) that were pasted to a small piece of card.
Portrait miniatures appeared in royal courts of Europe in the 16th century, and became very popular during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The popularity of the small watercolor portraits continued to flourish in the 18th century. Miniature artists were sought after by the wealthy elite, and by sailors and soldiers who wanted to give loved ones something to remember them by.
During this time, ivory began to replace vellum as the preferred material for the portraits. The luminous nature of ivory was better for the depiction of flesh tones and created a matte finish that was more pleasing. Also, the preparation process for painting ivory was less complicated than what was necessary for painting vellum. Ivory became more accessible and more affordable and was used through the end of the 1800s.
Miniature portraits were first documented in America in the 1750s. The early miniatures were usually commissioned to remember someone who died suddenly from illness at a young age. Miniatures soon became popular for another reason. Artists had wealthy clients who wanted full-scale portraits, as well as something they could display and wear as bracelets or brooches. When Gilbert Stuart came to the U.S. in 1793, he brought along Walter Robertson, a miniatures artist. They worked together with Gilbert painting full-scale oil portraits of his wealthy patrons and Robertson providing matching miniatures.
This brooch portrait painted by Clarissa Peters Russell is engraved on the back, “Jane Brabiner Dean Born July 11, 1847, died Sept 12 1849.” It is a watercolor done on ivory by an artist from Andover, MA.
The artist, Clarissa Peters, was born in the North Parish of Andover (now North Andover) on February 1, 1809, to John Peters and Elizabeth Farrington Davis Peters. The Peters family was a prominent family. Clarissa was the fifth child of twelve children. Not much is noted about her early years, but she probably attended the Franklin Academy in town.
At school and at home, Clarissa would have been taught creative skills of embroidery and watercolor painting that were expected of genteel young women of the time. She had an aptitude for art, and in1830, moved to Blue Hills, Maine to teach art at the Academy there.
Then in 1835, she moved to Boston to study with Moses B. Russell (1809-1884), an established miniature portraitist. They married in 1839 and operated a studio together in Boston. The 1850 census lists Moses age 40; Clarissa age 40; and their son Albert Cuyp Russell age 10 as living in Boston.
Clarissa Peters Russell was a successful miniaturist and enjoyed considerable popularity. She was so successful that her husband imitated her style in some of his miniatures. Clarissa did not sign her works or if she did, she signed them M. B. Russell, perhaps to advance the family business or to pay respect to the influence that her husband had on her success.
Unlike other miniaturists, her subjects were predominantly of children.
Author, Julie Aronson writing in Perfect Likeness – European and American Portrait Miniatures, states that:
“As a woman, it was perhaps easier for Russell to obtain commissions for children’s portraiture through reputation and female networks. Moreover, she must have developed a special rapport with young people, for who posing could be a chore.”
Clarissa first exhibited her work in 1841 at the Third Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association in Boston. Several works by Moses Russell were also included.
The Boston Daily Mail printed the following:
“Mr. Russell has four Miniatures on exhibition, and his wife three. They are all very beautiful…. Mr. Russell is a very talented and successful artist, and his wife paints the likeness of a lady with much accuracy and beauty of color. Their contributions to the Athenaeum have been much admired – but their extensive practice, and general success is the best test of their talent.”
In 1854, when Moses Russell was on an extended trip to Italy, Clarissa died of “apoplexy” following a severe bout of seasickness on a voyage from Boston to Maine. She is buried in Ridgewood Cemetery, North Andover along with her husband and son. Her younger sister, Sarah Peters Grozelier, also a miniaturist, and Sarah’s husband, Leopold Grozelier, a lithographer, are buried there also.
At the time of Clarissa’s death, the art of portrait minatures was beginning to wane. Artisically tinted daguerreotypes and photographs were becoming the new way to memorialize loved ones.
Thank you for reading!
We have more portrait miniatures in our collection. Some can be seen in our online collection on our website or stop by the History Center in Andover. I’d be pleased to show them to you.
Do you have any miniatures? I’d love to hear about them. I enjoy reading your comments and sharing your memories. Please email me at mhelmers@andoverhistoryandculture.org or send a comment through History Buzz.
Marilyn
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Resources:
Andover Center for History and Culture Collection Records
Research previously done by Ellen Marcus - Andover Center for History and Culture.
Memorial Hall Library - Charlotte Helen Abbott papers Early Records of the Peters Family of Andover
Town of Andover Vital Records
North Andover Historical Society
A Brief Introduction to Portrait Miniatures CHRISTIE’S
Barratt, Carrie Rebora. “American Portrait Miniatures of the Nineteenth Century.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, (October 2004)