Antique Gold Ring with a Fine Miniature Painting, ca. 1780

Portrait miniatures were the photography of their time - but unlike photography, they were reserved for a small elite. The painted representations were often executed small enough to fit in a vest pocket, so they could represent transportable mementos of loved ones. Typically, in the 18th or 19th century, these dainty portraits were set in gold or silver by a jeweler to be worn as a ring, locket, pendant, bracelet, or brooch. Depicted were revered or beloved persons, family members or friends. For the late 18th century, the age of sensibility, saw exuberant feeling not as a flaw, but as a distinction that made a member of society a decent person in the first place. At the same time, the epoch opposed the demonstrative publicity of absolutism with an unconditional emphasis on private life, which also distinguished family and friends. The influence of this movement is particularly evident in Goethe's juvenile work "The Sorrows of Young Werther" (1774). Today, the novel is considered the literary high point of the age of Empfindsamkeit. The portrait miniature set in the center of the present ring dates from this era. We see the finely painted portrait of a young lady. One shoulder shows dressed in powdery pink fabric, on the other seems to lie a white shoulder cloth, the so-called fichu. The cloth hardly differs in color from her distinguished pale incarnate. Following the fashion of the time, she wears a curly wig of powdered hair, with lush rose jewelry, and looks at the viewer with dark eyes. Setting and rail made of gold make the miniature wearable as a ring. The touching piece of jewelry takes us on a journey back in time to the late 18th century, offering an intimate glimpse into the emotional life of this distant era.

Estimate:£1,435.53

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