Teachers' Information

Middle class women with no men to support them found painting miniatures a good way of earning a living, as it was clean, genteel and could be done at home. You could make extra income by teaching young ladies to draw – a drawing mistress is safer than a drawing master! Charlotte Jones was a very successful miniature-painter who became miniaturist to Princess Charlotte in 1808:  she was in Bath in 1792 but mainly worked in London. Though it was possible to earn a reasonable living, it was a time-consuming activity and a serious hazard to the sight: like many miniaturists, Charlotte eventually went partially blind. Miniaturists often wore spectacles and worked with the light over their shoulder - you can tell if they were right or left-handed by the light in the picture (the light had to come from a direction which did not let the painting hand cast a shadow). North and south windows gave the best light as the light from east- or west-facing windows kept changing with the sun.

Portrait miniatures are a fascinating product of the spread of prosperity through British society during the Industrial Revolution. For many people they were the only version of an oil painting which they could afford: even cheaper was the silhouette, very popular at this period. The invention of photography in the mid 19th century virtually put an end to miniatures: since the 16th century they had often been the only way of remembering loved ones, who might be far away for years - travelling, at war, in service or running the Empire.

Activities

1. Which part of the picture do your pupils think the artist has painted most skillfully? Is it her face; the ruff; her sleeve; her hair? Why?

2. Discuss why people would wear pictures of other people? What would we use today?  What sort of people would you have a picture of?

3. What does your class think is the greatest risk to a miniature?  Is it
getting too much sun? Getting too dry? Getting too wet?

4. Ask your pupils to try painting something in miniature. What is the most difficult thing about painting something small? Discuss ideas to overcome these problems.

5. Pupils could use mirrors to draw a self portrait on an oval piece of watercolour paper in pencil: talk through watercolour, explaining the use of a thin wash over the white background to make paler areas, and letting the wash dry before painting detail in very dry paint. Paint the image in watercolour and lay it down on a larger piece of gold or yellow card as a frame. Pupils could decorate the back with a monogram of their initials.