Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Portrait Miniatures, Room 90a, The International Music and Art Foundation Gallery

Paintbox

18th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Metal paintbox containing porcelain receptacles and pigments.

Delve deeper

Discover more about this object
read What is watercolour? From the moment the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) opened its doors to the public in 1857, watercolours were at the heart of the new museum's ambitions for its fine art collections. It was the artist Richard Redgrave, the government's Inspector-General for Art, who championed the fo...

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
metal box
Brief description
Metal paintbox for watercolour paints, formerly the property of the miniaturist George Engleheart
Physical description
Metal paintbox containing porcelain receptacles and pigments.
Dimensions
  • Box when closed height: 5.6875in
  • Box when closed width: 2.8125in
  • Box when closed depth: 0.875in
Dimensions taken from Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1925, London: Board of Education, 1926.
Credit line
Given by Miss Rachel Barclay
Object history
George Engleheart (1750-1829) was one of the most prolific miniaturists of his day. He also kept a detailed fee book, which is still in the possession of his family descendants. There are very useful extracts from this fee book to be found in George Williamson's monograph on Engleheart, published in 1902. Only a few artists from the Georgian/Regency period kept details of who they painted and what fees they charged, and fewer of these precious historic records survive.
Association
Bibliographic reference
Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1925, London: Board of Education, 1926.
Collection
Accession number
P.16-1925

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest