- Explores the little-known subject of "lover's eyes," hand-painted miniatures of single human eyes set in jewellery
- Accompanies an exhibition organised by the Birmingham Museum of Art, the largest of its kind to date, with over 95 examples drawn from the private collection of Dr. and Mrs. David A. Skier
- Features five vignettes written by leading romance novelist Jo Manning, the author of My Lady Scandalous, a biographical account of the royal courtesan Grace Dalrymple Elliot
- Includes an essay by Elle Shushan who is a leading dealer and collector in American and European portrait miniatures
This lavishly illustrated volume explores the fascinating and little-known subject of "lover's eyes," hand-painted miniatures of single human eyes set in jewellery and given as tokens of affection, or created to memorialise a deceased loved one. According to popular lore, the phenomenon began in 1785, when the Prince of Wales secretly proposed to Mrs. Maria Fitzherbert with a miniature of his own eye. This romantic gesture inspired a fad among the aristocracy for exchanging eye portraits mounted in a wide variety of settings including brooches, rings, lockets and toothpick cases.
This new book accompanies an exhibition by the same title organised by the Birmingham Museum of Art, the largest exhibition of its kind to date, with over 98 examples drawn from the private collection of Dr. and Mrs. David A. Skier of Birmingham, Alabama. Graham Boettcher discusses the history and function of lover's eyes, as well as the language and symbolism of their jewelled settings; Elle Shushan examines their role in the broader context of Georgian and early Victorian portrait miniatures; and Jo Manning offers five fictional vignettes imagining the circumstances surrounding the creation of a selection of these extraordinary objects.
Contents:
Director s Foreword by Gail C. Andrews; Acknowledgements by Graham C. Boettcher; Collectors Preface by Nan and David Skier; The Artist s Eye by Elle Shushan; Symbol & Sentiment: Lover s Eyes and the Language of Gemstones by Graham C. Boettcher; Five Vignettes by Jo Manning: Pippa & William, Ursula Engleheart prepares tea for her artist husband, George..., I Mourn Your Loss, My Beloved..., My Mother, Mariah Norcross, The Grey Eye in Great- Aunt Lavinia's Jewelry Box; Catalogue of the Exhibition compiled by Graham C. Boettcher, Nan Skier, and Elle Shushan, with the assistance of Laura Wallace; Index.
Published to accompany an exhibition at the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, February 7th to June 10th, 2012.
Graham C. Boettcher is the William Cary Hulsey Curator of American Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art, where he oversees the collections of American fine and decorative art before 1945. Elle Shushan is among the world's foremost dealers in American and European portrait miniatures, and works with many of the leading private and public collections of miniatures.
Jo Manning is a romance novelist and the author ofMy Lady Scandalous (Simon & Schuster, 2005), a biographical account of the royal courtesan Grace Dalrymple Elliot.
