To have and to hold: portrait miniature jewellery

Cobby, H (2022) To have and to hold: portrait miniature jewellery. In: Understanding British Portraits Annual Seminar, 25 October 2022, online.

Abstract

My paper will discuss aspects of the display I have recently curated at the Barber Institute, which considers portrait miniatures as pieces of jewellery and suggests how such a perspective can inform the interpretation, display and reception of the portraits they contain. There is a focus on the supports and decorative backs and, in particular, the historic use of human hair and elephant ivory. I argue that ivory miniatures, especially popular in Britain around the mid-18th century, played a role in the period’s construction and representation of ‘whiteness’, and attempt to address some of the implications of this.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Note:	This paper is related to the display of the same name curated by Helen Cobby that took place at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham, on 27 May to 18 September 2022.
Divisions:	Professional Services
Date Deposited:	04 Nov 2026 18:43
Last Modified:	04 Nov 2026 18:43
URN:	https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/18054

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