NEWS

28 Apr 2025

SELLING EXHIBITION 'Vellum, Paper and Ivory: Portraits and Portrait Miniatures 1550-1950'


The Limner Company and Guy Peppiatt Fine Art are holding a joint selling exhibition, 28 April - 9 May 2025...

Vellum, Paper and Ivory: Portraits and Portrait Miniatures 1550-1950

6 Mason’s Yard, Duke Street, St James’s, London, SW1Y 6BU
 
28 April to 9 May, open weekdays 10am - 6pm or by appointment. 

The exhibition is accompanied by a print catalogue- please contact us by email to request a complimentary copy (a small fee will be charged for postage). An online version of the catalogue is available to view here

 
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20 Mar 2025

CADA FAIR, 20 - 23 March

The Limner Company are exhibiting at the Cotswold Art & Antiques Dealers’ Association’s annual fair in London this Spring.

Dates & Opening Hours:
20 - 23 March 2025
Thursday: 12 noon – 8pm
Friday: 11am – 6pm
Saturday: 11am – 6pm
Sunday: 11am – 5pm

Venue:
Chelsea Old Town Hall, King’s Road, London SW3 5EE

Tickets:
Sign-up to The Limner Company newsletter (in website footer below) to receive a complimentary ticket to the fair and an invitation to the Private View. Alternatively, tickets can be purchase online here or at the fair reception. 


For further visitor information, please visit the CADA website.
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25 Feb 2025

Online Talk for the Society of Jewellery Historians



Our director, Emma Rutherford recently gave a talk for the Society of Jewellery Historians, which is now available to view online for free here. In this talk, Emma examines jewelled frames and painted jewels in Tudor and Stuart portrait miniatures, including a miniature recently discovered by Emma to depict Lady Mary, later Queen Mary I (Compton Verney Collection). In the portrait, Mary wears a necklace that was likely given to her by her father, King Henry VIII, and was key to the sitter's identification.  
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08 Feb 2025

The Reflected Self Exhibition Tour, 8 February


Installation view, The Reflected Self. © Compton Verney, photo by Jamie Woodley (19)

Emma Rutherford will be giving an in-person curator's tour of Compton Verney's major portrait miniatures exhibition for the Society of Jewellery Historians on 8 February 2025

Admission to the tour is FREE, but please book your place via at miniaturescv@societyofjewelleryhistorians.ac.uk, as numbers are limited. You will also need to book entry to the exhibition via Compton Verney's website here; subscribe to The Limner Company's newsletter below to receive complimentary exhibition tickets. 

We would recommend joining the Society of Jewellery Historians for access to monthly lectures and their triannual journal - learn more here.
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31 Jan 2025

Miniaturists at Master Drawings New York 2025

Two remarkable works by miniaturists will be exhibited at Master Drawings New York by Guy Peppiatt Fine Art

The first is an highly attractive portrait drawing of "Miss Kirke", later Countess of Oxford (d.1719) by Susannah Penelope Rosse (née Gibson) (c.1655-1700), which relates to 2 drawings offered by The Limner Company by Richard Gibson (1615-1690): a portrait recently acquired by a national institution possibly depicting Susannah's husband, Michael Rosse (d.c.1735), and a self-portrait c.1660. Susannah was Richard Gibson's daughter and became a successful miniaturist in her own right, demonstrated in the present work. All three drawings likely remained in the artists' family until the early 18th century. 

Black chalk on paper prepared with a pink wash. 15.4 x 11.6 cm (6 x 4 1/2 in.)
Please click here to contact Guy Peppiatt for more information. 

A rare large-scale work by Isaac Oliver (c.1565-1617) will also be offered by Guy Peppiatt Fine Art. An exhibition highlight, this signed ink drawing depicts the Adoration of the Shepherds and clearly shows the influence of Italian Renaissance art on Oliver's style, which he would use to great effect in his portrait miniatures. 

Pen and brown ink and grey washes heightened with white on laid paper. 12.1 x 15.4 cm (4 3/4 x 6 in.)
Please click here to contact Guy Peppiatt for more information. 
 
Guy Peppiatt Fine Art are exhibiting at:
Arader Galleries
1st Floor
1016 Madison Avenue
NY, 10075


Opening times:
31st January, 3pm - 8pm
Then daily 1st - 8th February, 11am - 6pm
Apart from 2nd February, when timings are as follows 1pm - 5pm.
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30 Jan 2025

The Reflected Self exhibition ONLINE TALK, 30 January


Portrait miniature of Mary I, c.1546, attributed to Susannah Horenbout - Compton Verney Collection. Photograph: © Compton Verney/Jamie Woodley.

For those who have been unable to visit Compton Verney’s major portrait miniatures exhibition, The Reflected Self: Portrait Miniatures 1540-1850, we’re delighted to share this online event. On 30 January 2025, curators Emma Rutherford and Oli McCall will be discussing their ideas for the exhibition, share highlights and detail their discoveries in a zoom talk hosted by ARTscapades.

The talk will also be recorded and ticket holders will be emailed a link to view the recording afterwards (will expire after 1 month).

Register for the talk here.
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28 Jan 2025

Curators Tour & Tea at Compton Verney

Exclusive access to the major portrait miniatures exhibition at Compton Verney, guided by the curators.

Take a guided tour of The Reflected Self: Portrait Miniatures 1540-1850 on 28th January with exhibition curators Emma Rutherford and Oli McCall, followed by a chance to find out more over tea and a delicious slice of cake in the café.

This is a ticketed event: Compton Verney members £20 / Non-members £38. Tickets include entry to Compton Verney on the day of event. For booking and more information, please click here.
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02 Dec 2024

London Art Week, 2-6 December 2024


The Limner Company will be holding a selling exhibition at the prestigious Wartski gallery, St James's St, London, from 2-6 December 2024 for the winter instalment of London Art Week.

PLEASE NOTE: the exhibition is by appointment between 10am and 4:30pm. Please click here to book online, or contact Emma Rutherford to make an appointment.

Works will also be listed on our website from 2nd November, but subscribers to our newsletter will receive early access to exhibition stock online, prior to the stock going live on our website. Sign-up in the wesbite footer below! 
 
The Limner Company are very grateful to Wartski for hosting the exhibition.
 
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05 Nov 2024

Curators Tour & Tea at Compton Verney

Exclusive access to the major portrait miniatures exhibition at Compton Verney, guided by the curators.

Take a guided tour of The Reflected Self: Portrait Miniatures 1540-1850 on 5th November 2024 with exhibition curators Emma Rutherford and Oli McCall, followed by a chance to find out more over tea and a delicious slice of cake in the café.

This is a ticketed event: Compton Verney members £20 / Non-members £38. Tickets include entry to Compton Verney on the day of event.
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25 Oct 2024

In Conversation: Nicole Swengley and Emma Rutherford


As part of LAPADA’s Berkeley Square fair, Emma will be in conversation with Author Nicole Swengley, on 25 October 2024. They will discuss all things Victorian miniatures, and Nicole’s new book, released 10 October 2024, The Portrait Girl. Her novel centres around heroine Freya Wetherby, who is plunged in a quest to find the identity of the sitter in a Victorian portrait miniature that she has discovered. Places are limited, so be sure to book soon!

This is a ticketed event. Click HERE to book.

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21 Sep 2024

Portrait Miniatures Exhibition at Compton Verney

“Excellent…This show, like its subject, is small but perfectly formed” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - The Times (read review here)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - The Telegraph (read review here)
 


We’ve co-curated an exhibition with Compton VerneyNOW OPEN until 23rd February 2025!

The Reflected Self: Portrait Miniatures, 1540-1850 examines the functions of portrait miniatures through the centuries, from those held in the hand of Queen Elizabeth I to their eclipse by the invention of photography.

The exhibition draws primarily on Compton Verney’s own outstanding collection of portrait miniatures, with important loans from the Dumas Egerton Trust Collection and private lenders. It includes works by all of the leading miniaturists to have worked in Britain since the mid-16th century including Nicholas Hilliard, Isaac Oliver, Samuel Cooper, Richard Cosway and John Smart. 

As well as exploring the history of miniatures, the exhibition highlights their enduring appeal for artists and designers working today. In each room, specially commissioned films bring to life the highly personal nature of these artworks, whilst works by contemporary artists demonstrate their ongoing allure and relevance.

This is a ticketed exhibition. Click HERE to book and for more visitor information.

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28 Jun 2024

TALK - Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII's Queens


WENCESLAS HOLLAR (1607-1677) Portrait miniature of Jane Seymour (c.1509-1637), c.1640, watercolour on vellum, 2 in. (52 mm) diam. - recently sold by The Limner Company.

The National Portrait Gallery’s SIX LIVES opens on 20 June 2024. In honour of this landmark exhibition, Emma will be taking part in a talk with the exhibition curator, Charlotte Bolland (National Portrait Gallery) and art dealer, Mark Weiss (The Weiss Gallery) on 28 June 2024.

This curators talk - organised in association with London Art Week - will delve deeper into some of the objects featured in the exhibition and explore the role of the miniature in the representation of the six wives of King Henry VIII, who forever changed the landscape of English history.

This is a ticketed event and booking is essential - click HERE for information and booking.
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28 Jun 2024

EXHIBITION LOAN - Trois Crayons

We are delighted to be contributing this portrait drawing by John Smart (1742-1811) to London Art Week’s collaborative exhibition with Trois Crayons, 500 Years of Drawing.

The show will be held at Frieze’s permanent exhibition space at No.9 Cork Street, London during LAW, from 28 June – 5 July 2024 (10 am to 6 pm). The space will be transformed into a ‘drawings hub’ and offer an events and talks programme.

Please refer to the Trois Crayons website for more exhibition information.

You can view this portrait drawing by Smart on our website here.
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28 Jun 2024

London Art Week, 28 June - 5 July 2024

The Limner Company are delighted to join London Art Week, the UK's pre-eminent fine arts selling event, 28 June - 5 July 2024. Our selling exhibition is kindly hosted by Guy Peppiatt Fine Art at their prestigious Mason’s Yard gallery in St James’s. Works will also be listed on a dedicated online exhibition page.

Opening times:
10am - 5pm Mon to Fri, 11am - 5pm Sat and Sun.


Subscribe to our newsletter below before 12th June to receive an invitation to the Private View.
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13 May 2024

'Miniatures in May' - Period Portraits X The Limner Company

An online selling exhibition and series of Instagram Live talks in collaboration with Nick Cox of Period Portraits13 - 18 May 2024
Exhibition highlights include a recently discovered portrait by Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614), as well as one of only two known works by Wenceslas Hollar (1607-1677), a rare portrait by Nicholas Hilliard's son Laurence (1582–1648), and many more. View the exhibition catalogue here

Please note: This is an online only event - miniatures will be available to view in London on request.

The exhibition is accompanied by a series of online talks with a range of industry experts, listed below. The talks will be hosted on Instagram Live, and to join simply login to Instagram, visit the @portrait_miniature or @periodportraits profiles, and tap on the profile picture. Please note: all timings are British Summer Time.

Mon 13th, 5pm - Nick & Emma:
EXHIBITION HIGHLGHTS

Tues 14th, 5pm - Alan Derbyshire & Emma:
Miniatures Techniques & Conservation

Wed 15th, 5pm - Dr Aoife Brady & Nick & Emma:
Lavinia Fontana

Thurs 16th, 1pm - Nicholas Todhunter & Nick:
The Portrait Tradition

Thurs 16th, 5pm - Jacqui Ansell & Nick & Emma:
Fashion History in Miniatures

Friday 17th, 5pm - Audra Kiewiet de Jonge & Nick:
Miniatures as Inspiration
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23 Nov 2023

Celebrating Miss Biffin: A conversation with Alison Lapper

A talk at The Holburne Musuem, Bath, on 23 November 2023 in conjunction with their exhibition on artist Sarah Biffin (1784-1850).

Biffin excelled as a professional painter by challenging the norms of Georgian society, which restricted autonomy and financial independence for disabled women. In conversation with art historians Emma Rutherford and Ellie Smith, the artist Alison Lapper will share her experience as a disabled woman artist 150 years later.

Ellie and Emma co-curated a criticically acclaimed exhibition at Philip Mould & Co. in 2022, '"Without Hands: The Art of Sarah Biffin'. Alison was born with phocomelia, the same condition as Biffin, who she describes as a “formidable artist and a formidable character… a strong, stubborn, single-minded human being”.

For more information at booking, please visit the museum website here.
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20 Nov 2023

Autumn Selling Exhibition

A selling exhibition at Daniel Crouch Rare Books, London. The exhibition presents a small selection of antique portrait miniatures, the majority are also available to view on our online exhibition page.

Opening hours:
Monday 20 - Friday 24 November 2023
10am - 6pm


Entry is free and booking is not required.

We are very grateful to Daniel Crouch Rare Books for hosting the exhibition. 

Sign-up to our newsletter below for event updates.
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24 Oct 2023

Understanding British Portraits Annual Seminar 2023

Our director, Emma Rutherford, will be speaking at the Understanding British Portraits annual seminar. Emma, together with Ellie Smith, will present a paper on the exhibition they co-curated at Philip Mould & Co. in 2022, ‘“Without Hands”: The Art of Sarah Biffin’.

Understanding British Portraits is a network of professionals from the museum/heritage/arts/academic sectors. The 2023 seminar will be held at the National Portrait Gallery’s new Mildred & Simon Palley Learning Centre.

For more information and booking, visit the Understanding British Portraits website here.
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19 Oct 2023

Miniatures at Kenwood Talk & Drinks

For this fundraising event, Kenwood House curator Louise Cooling and conservator (and The Limner Company consultant) Alan Derbyshire will be giving a joint talk on portrait miniatures. The talk will be held on Thursday 19 October 2023 at 7pm and followed by a drinks reception.

The event celebrates the bequest of English portrait miniatures by Lady Cohen. Alan conducted their conservation with the support of the Friends Of Kenwood.

More information and booking can be found on the Eventbrite page here.
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29 Sep 2023

Sarah Biffin Exhibition at The Holburne Museum, Bath

One of history’s most resolute, entrepreneurial and accomplished miniature painters, Sarah Biffin (or Biffen) (1784-1850) was born with the condition “phocomelia”, described on her baptism record as “born without arms and legs”. She trained herself to paint despite her parents’ misgivings, using her mouth or a paintbrush tied to her sleeve (as in this self portrait). She was dubbed “the World’s Eighth Wonder”, and her live painting sessions once drew huge crowds; she showed at the Royal Academy and sold her pictures to George IV.

However, her remarkable story had been largely overlooked by historians until the exhibition last year at Philip Mould Gallery, curated by Emma Rutherford and and Ellie Smith. Following this, The Holburne Museum, Bath are to hold the first major museum exhibition to examine Biffin's life and work. The Holburne presents an incisive and comprehensive picture of Biffin with a discussion of her work within the context of her life and times. It will include portraits, still lifes and ephemera relating to her career.

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30 Jun 2023

Summer Selling Exhibition

We will be holding our first portrait miniatures selling exhibition at Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Gallery, London, 30 June - 7 July 2023. The exhibition will present a small selection of European portrait miniatures from the 16th - 19th centuries.

Please note our opening times are as follows:
10am-6pm weekdays
11am-5pm weekends


Booking is not required. 

We are very grateful to Guy Peppiatt Fine Art for hosting the exhibition.

Sign-up to our newsletter below for event updates.
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21 Mar 2023

Talk at Compton Verney - Portrait Miniatures with Emma Rutherford

Join Emma on 21 March 2023 at Compton Verney Art Gallery, Warwickshire, to discover the the symbolism and significance of miniatures, both personal and political. The talk will be followed by a miniatures handling session with Compton Verney's Collections Manager.

Book tickets via Compton Verney’s website here.
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23 Oct 2021

Virtual Summit: The Tudor Travel Guide

23-24 October 2021

The Tudor Travel Guide



For this virtual event, organised by The Tudor Travel Guide, Emma delivered a talk on 'The Secret Code of Miniatures in Tudor Relationships'. 

Content from the event is available here to Tudor Travel Guide subscribers.
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10 Mar 2021

YouTube Broadcast with Jane Austen's House Museum

Emma was invited to take part in the Jane Austen’s House Museum's online talk series, ‘Austen Wednesdays’. Watch Emma in conversation with the museum director, Lizzie Dunford about miniatures in the time of Jane Austen.

WATCH NOW
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