Blaney Townley Balfour

Maker James Ferguson (British, 1710-1776)

Additional Title(s)

Reverse: Memorial Image
Memorial Ring

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Date1771

Mediumink and chopped hair pigment on ivory

Dimensions1 1/2 x 1 1/4 in. (3.8 x 3.2 cm.)

DescriptionPortrait miniature housed in double-sided locket with memorial image on reverse. Ring with same portrait.

InscribedOn verso on tombstone in center: "BTB/ Born/ 14th/ June/ 1744/ OB 8th/ Decr. 1771"; and on perimeter "HE BEING MADE PERFECT IN A SHORT TIME, FULFILL'D A LONG LIFE". On reverse of ring in hair pigment: "BTB" and inscribed in gold letter on black enamel around ring: "Taken from the evil to come. 8 Dec 1771"

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

Not on view

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."

Object number96.22A