A Beautiful Georgian Wax Portrait of an equally Beautiful Unknown Young Woman

THE STORY - I have found that I have fallen in love with these wax miniature portraits which have been popular throughout history really until the advent of photography helped to bring representations of loved ones into the homes of many. And the art of wax portraits were extremely popular at the end of the 1700s when one of its finest artists Samuel Percy was working. This portrait I believe would date to the very beginning of the 1800s and what struck at my heart was both the youth and anonymity of the subject and of course her beauty. There was something so much more intimate about this piece not being a famous General or Member of Royalty it also made the fact it has survived more special as the plaster moulds for these wax portraits would have produced far greater numbers of wax miniatures of the famous people to sell than that of an unknown young woman, although I am pretty certain that more than one wax portrait was produced of her to give to friends and family. And she really is very beautiful in profile with her long slim neck and her hair plaited in a tight bun with a band on top of her head, it really is hard not to think of the characters from a Jane Austen novel when you look at her. The wax of this miniature is pinky in tone and it looks like it sits on the usual painted glass back but I am not 100% certain. What I am 100% certain of is that I have fallen head over heals in love with the frame which I think is likely to be the original one. It is not small measuring approx 7" in diameter and its form reminds me of a porthole with its three staggered levels. It is made I think from wood painted black to look like ebony and is highlighted at its rims in gilt and it has the most wonderful strong hanger, there is something so very honest about it that I find so beautiful.

AGE - Circa 1810

CONDITION - The wax miniature is in very good condition with no cracks that I can see, there a couple of tiny areas of what look like the paint on the backing on her and these are on her bottom edge and on her ear. The frame is in sound condition and I have not done a thing to it, since I acquired I have not even attempted to clean the glass but as you can see from the photo I hope the frame has no backing to it and I am going to leave it to its new owner to decide whether to put a new one on and clean the glass. I also want to point out that I found her fiendishly difficult to photograph and I apologise for the reflections in the glass.

DIMENSIONS (Approx) - Framed - Diameter 7" / 18cm, Depth 1&1/2" / 4cm. Glass Aperture - Diameter - 3&3/4" / 9.5cm. Wax Portrait - Height - 2&1/4" / 6cm, Width 2" / 5cm

I smile at myself as I write this piece, how contradictory humans can be with almost every other listing I have produced in my shop I have yearned to know about the identity and the story of the piece but this time it is the anonymity of the piece that I love so very, very much. As I said earlier in reference to the frame there is an honesty to it but that is so very true of the piece in its completeness and that is what I find so very touching and beautiful about it, and of course the beauty of the young woman whoever she may have been.