Susannah-Penelope Rosse Portrait Miniature

The pick of this week is a tiny portrait miniature circa 1675. I became interested in portrait miniatures about 3 months ago. They are fascinating. Unlike full sized paintings that were meant to be hung in homes, miniatures were painted to be worn, close to the heart of someone who loved the sitter dearly. In 19^th century America they were most commonly painted as a memorial or a mourning piece, many having locks of intricately woven hair of the sitter in the back of the case.

I was search browsing eBay and came across this newly listed miniature with no bids yet. I noticed it was very small, in an appropriate silver and gold case and was signed in tiny letters SR. After a lightning fast reference adventure in comparing my suspected artist’s extant pieces in the Victoria Albert museum as well as Foskett’s dictionary of British Miniatures I emailed the seller in the UK and asked if they had a buy it now price in mind. It was late in the UK but I heard back from the seller. They’d be willing to let it go for £280 ($445). It was a risk (picking always is) but on a hunch I bought it. As it happens, just a few blocks down the street from the seller was the Phillip Mould art gallery (http://philipmould.com/) where Miniature expert and art consultant Emma Rutherford works so after securing payment I had the seller drop it off there and I let Emma know it was coming. Excited to see it, Emma wrote a full report and confirmed the miniature to be the work of Susannah-Penelope Rosse, the 1^st recorded British female portrait miniaturist painted around 1675. Watercolor on Vellum (as opposed to the later medium, ivory). The sitter is unknown but was probably a relative or friend of Rosse (Rosse’s status and wealth did not necessitate her art). She was also married to a well-known jeweler, Michael Rosse and since the case is original, he may have made the case for this miniature. Rosse’s work is scarce. Signed Rosse’s are almost non-existent outside of museum collections. It’s a special piece and a very good start to a British portrait miniature collection. Although no signed Rosses' have sold at auction in the past 10 years, comparing size, quality and context, Emma estimated the value of the miniature at $3,200. See more of her work at http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/p/portrait-miniatures-susan-penelope-rosse/

Happy Hunting