Portrait miniatures were highly prized in Europe for nearly four hundred years and,unusually, artists based in Britain were the acknowledged masters of this specialisedfi eld. Many of the best painters are represented in this remarkable but relativelylittle-known collection. As is illustrated and described in this book, miniatures werefrequently made as tokens of love or memorials of loved ones; part-likeness, partreliquaryand part-jewel, they might be wearable in a locket, on a bracelet or even on afi nger ring, but their portability also made them desirable as gifts.Styles, techniques and modes of presentation naturally evolved between 1560 (thedate of the fi rst miniature in the catalogue) and around 1900. Some changes happenedrapidly; in England, for example, the foundation of exhibiting societies in 1760screated a demand for larger miniatures that could hang on the wall alongside full-sizedportraits. The Thomson collection includes fi ne examples of the work of NicholasHilliard (from the Elizabethan period) and John Smart (from the eighteenth century)as well as notable portraits by less familiar names such as Jacob Van Doordt and JamesScouler. It is apparent from the scope and character of his acquisitions that KenThomson never planned an encyclopaedic collection. Reacting to miniatures that spokemost eloquently to him when held in the hand, or examined under a glass, he developedover time a fondness for particular artists and had no qualms about omitting othersaltogether.Using this collection housed at the Art Gallery of Ontario as a case study,the catalogue discusses the function of miniatures, their material presence, thecircumstances in which they were made and aspects of their later history. The homesand studios of the most successful painters, as sumptuous as those occupied by oilpainters, often passed from one generation to another: here, one key property inCovent Garden is described and illustrated. In this book, for the fi rst time, a number ofspecialist artists’ suppliers are identifi ed, showing where ivory could be obtained andenamel plates prepared and fi red. The links between enamelling for clock and watchfaces and enamelling for miniatures are demonstrated. The illicit practice within thelate nineteenth and early twentieth century art trade of duplicating old miniatures,a topic generally avoided in the literature, is addressed here. Miniatures are di cultto display in museums, but recently-developed photographic methods of identifyingpigments are also proving to be a way of introducing a new audience to this multilayeredsubject. Eighteen years after Ken Thomson’s death, there could not be a moreopportune moment to highlight his collection.
