Portrait miniatures, silhouettes and gallimaufry

How would you wear a mourning ring? 💍

Rings like this one* were one way in which people of the past kept the memory of a loved one alive. But we can’t help wondering: how would they have been worn? In days gone by, when a lady may have offered her hand as part of a greeting, were they made to face outwards, exclaiming her loss to the world? Or were they meant for her eyes alone, the portrait facing inwards to provide a glimpse of a familiar face when she looked down?

What do you think? And how would you wear a mourning ring? Let us know in the comments below 👇🏼

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*This ring is NOT for sale, but we know our followers like to learn about such pieces! It is signed Miers, but is likely the work of John Field (1772-1848), Miers’ assistant. The bronzed highlights are characteristic of his style. It is surrounded by jet, and an engraving on the back reveals that the portrait depicts Mary Smith, who sadly died aged only 25 in 1790. Perhaps this was a ring worn by a grieving mother or sister?

💎 New Acquisition For Sale 💎

Being the nephew of George Engleheart, John Cox Dillman honed his innate talent with the best in the business before establishing his own London studio. Although strongly influenced by his uncle, John developed his own style with a bolder colour palette and using the wet-on-wet technique to add texture.

This relaxed-looking gentleman was painted in 1811, the year Jane Austen published her first novel and the Regency period officially began with the passing of the Regency Act.

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This neatly painted silhouette is by William Hamlet the Elder, an artist with a striking back story.

‘William Hamlet a Negro’ was baptized at Bath Abbey in 1772. The following year Thomas Gegg, a retired Jamaican planter, placed an advert in the Bath Chronicle seeking the return of ‘a black man, who calls himself Wm Hamlet ... well favoured, small in person, affects the beau in his gait, thinks himself of consequence and nothing is good enough for him’.

But it appears that Hamlet made good his escape from the Gegg household as his marriage was recorded in Salisbury in 1779. The couple went on to have five children including twins.

Quite how Hamlet established himself in the artworld is unclear as by the mid-1780s he was advertising profiles on card and on glass. He even found favour with the Royal Family who commissioned profiles whilst at Weymouth. Hamlet died in Bath in 1822 at the age of 73.

#antiquesilhouettes #silhouetteartists #WilliamHamlet #georgianart blackartists bath bathartists wigsonthegreen