December, Additions to the collection

There have been three additions to the collection at the end of the 2008 year.

One each from America, Britain, and Europe.

The earliest is an American miniature of a young man, named A Leache aged 17. It was painted in 1825 by Antonio Meucci, an artist born in Italy, but who was working in the United States between 1818 and 1827.

For more about it see Meucci, Antonio - portrait of J Leache

The unsigned British miniature portrait is of Fanny Goschen. She was a member of a very wealthy British family.

Her eldest brother was Viscount George Joachim Goschen, Chancellor of the Exchequer and First Lord of the Admiralty.

For more about her and her family, see Unknown - portrait of Fanny Goschen

The third miniature is an important portrait of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany. The artist is so far only known by their initials. The miniature is interesting in that the Crown Prince is in full dress uniform, but he is holding a cigarette in his right hand.

This is one of only a couple of miniatures I have ever seen with a sitter holding a cigarette and it is most unusual in such a formal portrait.

He was the son of the Kaiser in World War I and commanded the 5th Army until November 1916, a two-year period which included the battle of attrition known as the Verdun Offensive.

From April 1916 onward he tried in vain to convince the supreme command that the Verdun offensive no longer made any sense, but the campaign continued until September 2nd of that year.

During World War I he was belittled as the "Clown Prince" by the British soldiers; that nickname was adopted by the American forces in 1917.

For more about the Crown Prince and the miniature, see Artist "J T A" - portrait of Crown Prince Willhelm of Germany