Portrait miniatures, silhouettes and gallimaufry

Small Portraits of Character

Wigs on the Green specialises in fine portrait miniatures, silhouettes, small portraits, and provincial art, predominantly from the 18th and 19th centuries. Our portraits are selected for their historical interest and character. They are not only by listed artists but also those who painted and drew for their own entertainment and pleasure - true to life portraits, with real character and, often, a pretty face!

Collections or individual portraits or silhouettes wanted for purchase.

New Arrivals

The Red Shoe

Edward Nash

£1,600 - Reserved

Georgian miniature portrait of a pregnant lady

Expecting . . .

Circa 1790

Reserved

The Black Dress

Circa 1850

£225

Cyrus Slater Lomas

Peter Skeolan

£325

Miniature portrait of a lady in a chip hat trimmed with blue ribbon

Patterned Pelisse

Circa 1820

£975

A Bejewelled Gentleman

Gustavus Hamilton

Reserved

Latest Musing

Disputed Likenesses

13th August 2021

A curious dispute over two portrait miniatures was brought before a London magistrate in June 1824 and subsequently reported in the newspapers. Mr Jones of Stoke Newington was charged with riotous behaviour against the miniature painter Walter Stephens Lethbridge, then residing above a baker’s shop in the Strand. The story goes that Lethbridge had been commissioned by an elderly maiden lady to paint two likenesses of her for an agreed fee of £11. Before the… (show more)

View all musings