Description:
Antique Miniature Eye Portrait Brooch, the portrait on ivy depicting a bright blue eye below curling powdered locks, framed by foil-backed red pastes, wd. 1 1/8 in.
Note: According to the consignor, the portrait was attributed by Charles McManus, the Philadelphia antiquarian, to Richard Cosway, R.A., a late 18th century miniaturist whose work featured prominently in the J.P. Morgan collection. No further documentations available.
Estimate $1,000-1,500
Paste Eye Portrait
Ivory appears to have cracked and been repaired with some slight repaint, crystal is also damaged, not obstrusive but certainly noticeable when studied
Losses to pastes and glue residues
Later but old pinstem
Skinner can provide NO documentation nor other support for McManus''s attribution to Cosway:
Attribution possibly made on the basis of the powdery curls, feathery style
R. Cosway''s subjects were often royalty and period celebrities