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Ring with Miniature Portrait

Maker (British, 1710-1776)
ClassificationsCOSTUMES AND JEWELRY
Date1771
Mediumgold, enamel, ivory, ink and gold leaf
Dimensions7/8 in. (2.2 cm.)
Descriptionring with portrait of Blaney Townley Balfour
InscribedInscription inscribed on verso in center 'BTB'; engraved around outter band 'taken from the evil to come 8 Dec. 1771'
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Label TextMany portraits were painted posthumously to commemorate a lost loved one. They often included on the reverse mourning imagery, painted in monochrome with chopped hair dissolved into the watercolor, which sometimes depicted a tomb inscribed with the loved one's name. This mourning miniature for Blaney Townley Balfour, a friend of Horace Walpole, shows a tomb inscribed "BTB born 14th June 1744 Ob 8th Dec. 1771" and around the perimeter "He being made perfect in a short time fulfill'd a long life." The companion mourning ring is engraved on the band "taken from the evil to come 8 Dec. 1771."
Status
Not on view
Object number96.22B
William Homes, Sr.
ca. 1743
Object number: 2000.25.63
Blaney Townley Balfour
James Ferguson
1771
Object number: 96.22A
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James Ferguson
n.d.
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ca. 1810
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Unknown, American
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Unknown, American
ca. 1825
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Scrimshaw Busk with Initials "LH"
Unknown, American
ca. 1835
Object number: 2016.25.2
Self-portrait; Unfinished
John Linnell
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Object number: 55.6
Portrait Miniature of a Sea Captain's Wife
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early 19th century
Object number: 2022.25.12.1
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Object number: 2022.25.12.2
Photography © 2015 Fredrik Nilsen
Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
1781
Object number: 27.34