Dama rubia de la familia Canals

Unidentified (Puerto Rican), Dama rubia de la familia Canals, ca. 1835-1840, watercolor on ivory, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Teodoro Vidal Collection, 1996.91.25
Copied Unidentified (Puerto Rican), Dama rubia de la familia Canals, ca. 1835-1840, watercolor on ivory, image: sight 2 122 in. (6.45.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Teodoro Vidal Collection, 1996.91.25
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Artwork Details

Title
Dama rubia de la familia Canals
Artist
Unidentified (Puerto Rican)
Date
ca. 1835-1840
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
image: sight 2 122 in. (6.45.2 cm)
Credit Line
Teodoro Vidal Collection
Mediums
Mediums Description
watercolor on ivory
Classifications
Keywords
  • Dress — accessory — jewelry
  • Portrait female — Canals — bust
Object Number
1996.91.25

Artwork Description

It is not always possible to identify the sitter in a miniature portrait, and research is still being done on some of the works in the Museum’s collection. Miniatures became popular in England during the early 1700s, commissioned by wealthy families on the occasions of births, engagements, weddings, and bereavements. These paintings, elaborately set into lockets or brooches, provided the wearer with a sentimental connection to a loved one. The back of the miniature often revealed a lock of the sitter’s hair, symbolizing affection, commitment, or loss. The daguerreotype, invented in 1839, provided a cheaper, faster alternative, and portrait miniatures grew less popular. At the turn of the twentieth century, with the establishment of the American Society of Miniature Painters, miniatures enjoyed a brief revival.