NEWS

01 Dec 2024

LADY LEIGHTON DISCOVERY - Media Coverage



A portrait miniature by Nicholas Hilliard (1547-1619) being offered by The Limner Company at London Art Week is thought to depict Elizabeth, Lady Leighton (née Knollys) (1549-c.1605), the lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I who caught the eye of Sir Walter Raleigh. Emma Rutherford and Elizabeth Goldring recently identified the sitter, hitherto catalogued only as an unknown lady, and their discovery was featured in The Guardian on Sunday 1 December.  

The miniature is on display at The Limner Company’s selling exhibition at Wartski, 2 - 6 December 2024 (booking required). You can read more about the miniature here.
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17 Nov 2024

MARY I DISCOVERY - Media coverage

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

A portrait miniature in the Compton Verney Collection and currently on display in their exhibition (co-curated by The Limner Company) The Reflected Self: Portrait Miniatures 1540-1850 has been discovered to depict Princess Mary, later Mary I (1516-1558). Emma Rutherford made the discovery while researching the miniature for the exhibition, and also attributes the work to Susannah Horenbout, making it the only artwork currently attributed to the artist.

This exciting discovery featured in The Observer in an article by Richard Brooks on 17 November, and is also the subject of the latest episode of Not Just The Tudors podcast (available on all major podcast streamers, a link here to Spotify).  
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21 Sep 2024

THE REFLECTED SELF EXHIBITION - Media Coverage

"Excellent... This show, like its subject, is small but perfectly formed" - The Times

Compton Verney’s portrait miniatures exhibition, co-curated by The Limner Company, opened to 21st September 2024 and received 4-star reviews in both The Times and The Telegraph. The exhibition has also featured in The Guardian, and the international art magazine, Apollo.

Find out more about the exhibition HERE.
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26 Jun 2024

The Evening Standard (online)

Emma Rutherford took part in a curators’ talk on the National Portrait Gallery’s Six Lives exhibition on 28 June, recommended in the Evening Standard’s guide to London Art Week 2024.

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27 May 2024

HILLIARD CABINET PORTRAIT DISCOVERY - Media Coverage


A lady, here identified as Lady Arbella Stuart, by Nicholas Hilliard. 1592. Watercolour and bodycolour on vellum, stuck down on card, 21.1 by 17.6 cm. (Private collection).


In the April 2024 issue of The Burlington Magazine, an important miniature by Nicholas Hilliard (c.1547-1619) was published for the first time in an article by Elizabeth Goldring and Emma Rutherford, having just emerged from a private collection. The discovery and the intriguing story behind the portrait’s commission, have since featured in The Times newspaper (27 May 2024), BBC News online (5 June 2024), Not Just the Tudors podcast (6 June 2024), Country Life magazine in print and online (24 July 2024), Talking Tudors podcast (25 July 2024) and The Tudor Chest podcast (26 September 2024).
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11 May 2024

Antiques Trade Gazette

11 May 2024, Issue 2642

Miniatures in May, The Limner Company’s online exhibition and Instagram Live series in collaboration with Period Portraits, was featured in trade Antiques Trades Gazette news. The article highlight’s The Limner’s Company’s rare work by Wenceslas Hollar (1607-77), one of only 2 known miniatures by the artist.

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18 Jul 2023

Sky Arts TV: Stories from the National Portrait Gallery



Emma Rutherford featured in episode 2 of the new Sky Arts TV series, ‘Stories from the National Portrait Gallery’.

WATCH / DOWNLOAD
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17 Jun 2023

Antiques Trade Gazette

17 June 2023, Issue 2597

The launch of The Limner Company and our first selling exhibition were featured the Antiques Trade Gazette in 2023. 

READ ONLINE 
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12 Nov 2022

Antiques Trade Gazette

12 November 2022, Issue 2567

Emma featured in an article on the portrait miniatures market.

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01 Nov 2022

SARAH BIFFIN EXHIBITION - Media Coverage

Sarah Biffin (Beffin) (1784-1850), circa 1825, attributed to Sarah Biffin (Beffin) © National Portrait Gallery, London

The exhibition Emma co-curated on the life and work of Sarah Biffin (1784-1850), held at at Philip Mould & Co. 1 November - 21 December 2022, was covered widely in the media. The exhibition received 5 stars in The Telegraph and was featured in The Times, The Guardian, BBC Radio 4, Financial Times, Homes & Antiques magazine and The Art Newspaper, as well as The Past Matters podcast.
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01 May 2022

Homes & Antiques Magazine

Emma was interviewed for an article on portrait miniatures, ‘Small Pleasures’, in the May 2022 issue of Homes & Antiques magazine.
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24 Feb 2022

Podcast: The Thing About Austen


Emma joined the podcast to discuss the role of portrait miniatures in Jane Austen’s world, and a miniature sold by Philip Mould & Co. to the Jane Austen’s House Museum.

LISTEN / DOWNLOAD NOW
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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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02 Sep 2021

ZAGA CHRIST DISCOVERY - Media Coverage


Portrait miniature of Zaga Christ (c. 1608-38), 1635, by Giovanna Garzoni - sold by Philip Mould & Co.

In 2019, Emma and the team at Philip Mould & Co. unearthed the earliest European portrait miniature of a black sitter: a portrait miniature of Zaga Christ (c.1608-1638) by Giovanna Garzoni (1600-1670). The discovery and the miniature’s subsequent acquisition by the Allen Art Memorial Museum were featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Art Herstory and Art Daily. In 2020, the miniature was included in the Victoria & Albert Museum’s exhibition ‘Renaissance Watercolours’, as well as ‘The Greatness of the Universe' in the art of Giovanna Garzoni at the Palazzo Pitti.
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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.

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05 Feb 2021

Financial Times, How to Spend It

'Smaller in beautiful: the tiny but triumphant comeback of art miniatures'

Portrait miniature of a Gentleman wearing a green coat with a pink powdered wig, by John Smart (1741-1811) - Philip Mould & Co., Featured in Financial Times

Emma was interviewed by Francesca Gavin on the history and enduring appeal of portrait miniatures with curators and collectors.

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26 Jan 2021

JEAN DE COURT HENRI III DISCOVERY - Media Coverage


Portrait miniature by Henri III, King of France (1551-89), 1578, by Jean Decourt (de Court) – sold by Philip Mould & Co.

In 2020, Emma and the team at Philip Mould & Co. discovered a signed portrait miniature of French King Henri III (1551–89) by Jean Decourt (c.1530-1585) - available to view on their website here

In January 2021, this exceptional discovery was widely featured in the press, including The Telegraph, Artnet, The Independent, The Smithsonian Magazine, ArtDaily, The Northern Echo and Sunday World.
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23 Apr 2020

BBC 2: The People’s Piazza, A History of Covent Garden



Emma featured on this television programme to discuss the seventeenth-century miniaturist and Covent Garden resident, Richard Gibson (1615-1690).

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21 Nov 2018

CHARLES DICKENS PORTRAIT DISCOVERY - media coverage

Before and after conservation: detail of a portrait miniature of Charles John Huffman Dickens (1812-70), 1843, by Margaret Gillies RWS - sold by Philip Mould & Co.
 
In 2017, Emma uncovered a portrait miniature of Charles Dickens (1812-1870) by Margaret Gillies (1803-1887), which had been thought lost for over 130 years. The miniatures captures Dickens aged 31 as an emerging literary star in the midst of writing his masterwork, ‘A Christmas Carol’. When the portrait was unveiled with a Christmas exhibition in 2018, press coverage included articles in The Guardian, The Times, CNN, The Telegraph, Evening Standard, The Daily Mail and Understanding British Portraits.

Philip Mould & Co. also released a 3-part podcast series tracing the origins of the portrait. (Available on Apple Podcasts only) 
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11 Sep 2018

The Art Newspaper



The Limner Company's conservation consultant, Alan Derbyshire was interviewed in 2018 by The Art Newspaper after receiving the Plowden Medal, the highest and most prestigious award in the conservation profession.

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09 Sep 2015

Londnr Magazine

Emma was interviewed about portrait miniatures by Nina-Sophia Miralles. (Article no longer available online.)
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27 May 2014

Financial Times, How to Spend It


Emma and portrait miniatures collector, Robert Harman were interviewed by Claire Wrathall. (Article no longer available online.)
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28 Mar 2014

BBC 2: A Very British Renaissance


In episode two of BBC 2's series on Renaissance art in Britain, The Limner Company's conservation consultant, Alan Derbyshire spoke to Dr James Fox about the Elizabethan miniaturist, Nicholas Hilliard (1547-1619).

The programme was first aired on BBC 2, but is now available to view here.
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