Portrait of a Lady

Ozias Humphry, 1742–1810

between 1785 and 1787

Watercolor on ivory

Yale Center for British Art

A watercolor miniature portrait depicts a woman from the shoulders up, turned to her left, wearing a blue dress and a blue ribbon around her neck. The portrait is set within a circular frame adorned with red gemstones. Many of the portraits in this exhibition are made on a small scale. In the European tradition, these works, which could be held in a hand or worn, are called “miniatures.” The term comes from illuminated medieval manuscripts. By the eighteenth century, Europeans also used this term to describe works made in the Mughal tradition. They saw affinities with their fine detail and glossy surfaces. Artists from both traditions drew inspiration and learned from one another. Portrait miniatures often expressed personal ties. Company agents who were far away from their families in Britain kept them as portable tokens of their loved ones. Othe