Description

Portrait Miniatures from the Merchistion Collection is the fifth in a series of titles which examines the portrait miniature. This collection, which has never been on public display, was assembled on the London art market during the 1970s and 1980s. Scottish miniaturists from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries are particularly well represented with fine works by Scouler, Bogle, and Skirving and Sir William Charles Ross. Of outstanding interest is Nicholas Hilliard's matching pair of tiny lockets of Queen Elizabeth and her admirer Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Stephen Lloyd's essay discusses the formation of the collection and the impact of the invention of photography on the art of miniature painting. It also explores the social history of the miniature. Twenty of the key works are illustrated in colour, with extended captions, and a complete list of the collection is also included.