An Unknown Man, presumably a member of the Barbor Family thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Portrait Miniatures, Room 90a, The International Music and Art Foundation Gallery

An Unknown Man, presumably a member of the Barbor Family

Portrait Miniature
ca. 1590 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Portrait miniature of a man, head and shoulders, left profile, in a circular box of turned ivory. Printed on the reverse of the support card are two diamonds.

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read Portrait miniatures at the V&A In 1857, the year the new South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) opened to the public, the museum acquired its first portrait miniature – an image of Queen Elizabeth I by Nicholas Hilliard. The miniature, housed in an enamelled gold locket with a jewelled cover, is a rare survival as most E...

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleAn Unknown Man, presumably a member of the Barbor Family (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour on vellum stuck onto a playing card
Brief description
Portrait miniature of an unknown man, presumably a member of the Barbor Family, watercolour on vellum in an ivory box, painted by Nicholas Hilliard, ca. 1590. [This miniature was attributed to Isaac Oliver by Roy Strong in the exhibition catalogue 'Artists of the Tudor Court', 1983, no.143]
Physical description
Portrait miniature of a man, head and shoulders, left profile, in a circular box of turned ivory. Printed on the reverse of the support card are two diamonds.
Dimensions
  • Height: 37mm
  • Width: 29mm
Dimensions taken from: Strong, Roy. Artists of the Tudor Court: the Portrait Miniature Rediscovered 1520-1620.. London: The Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983.
Content description
Portrait of a man, head and shoulders, left profile and wearing a lace ruff.
Styles
Credit line
Presented by Miss M. Blencowe
Object history
COLLECTIONS: In possession of the Blencowe family who inherited it by the marriage of the last Elizabeth Barbor to Henry Prescott Blencowe of Thorby Priory, Essex sometime after 1757; presented by Miss M. Blencowe, 1894.
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic reference
Strong, Roy. Artists of the Tudor Court: the Portrait Miniature Rediscovered 1520-1620.. London: The Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983. Part citation: "Traditionally this miniature is of William Barbor, a grocer of Protestant persuasion who was saved from the stake by the accession of Queen Elizabeth in 1558. In remembrance of his delivery he is said to have had the Barbor Jewel made (V&A 859- 1894)."
Collection
Accession number
887:1-1894

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Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
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