Ring with Miniature Portrait

Maker James Ferguson (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

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 number96.22B