Preface and Acknowledgments

Due to their fragile nature and light sensitivity, portrait miniatures are not on view for long periods of time. Yet they leave an indelible impression the more one learns about the artists who painstakingly created them, the sitters featured within them, and the original owners who most often wore them close to their hearts as tokens of love, loss, and affection. The research and digital publication of The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, the first substantive publication on this collection and the museum’s second digital offering of this kind, was therefore a critical undertaking to expand awareness, increase accessibility, and bring this unique and beloved art form to life.

Renowned among scholars but little known outside the field, the Starr collection of portrait miniatures was assiduously collected over the course of thirty years in the early twentieth century by Martha Jane Phillips Starr (1906–2011) and John W. Starr (1905–2000), and it illustrates the history of the genre from the 1500s to the 1800s. Known for including one signed example from every year of British miniaturist John Smart’s (1741–1811) career, the collection also contains rare, virtually unknown examples by English artists Nicholas Hilliard (ca. 1547–1619), Isaac Oliver (ca. 1565–1617), Samuel Cooper (ca. 1608–1672), Richard Cosway (1742–1821), and George Engleheart (1750–1829), among many others. There are also fine miniatures by American and Continental artists, including several by members of the celebrated Peale family. Equally significant are the miniatures by a number of lesser-known artists, understanding of whom is greatly enhanced by situating them within the broader context of their peers.

The Starr family generously gave their collection of nearly three hundred miniatures to the Nelson-Atkins Museum in 1958 and 1965. A gift by their grandson, James Philip Starr, of a half-dozen additional miniatures followed in 2018. Although a modest catalogue of their gift was produced in 1971, over the course of the last fifty years new research, revised attributions, and a recent conservation campaign made it clear that a more comprehensive, updated publication was warranted. At the same time, interest and scholarship in the miniatures field has grown exponentially, with catalogues now in existence for many American museums’ top portrait miniatures collections. These include the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s European Miniatures (1996), the Cincinnati Art Museum’s Perfect Likeness: European and American Portrait Miniatures (2006), and the Cleveland Museum of Art’s British Portrait Miniatures (2012). These are joined by recent major exhibitions and catalogues, including Elizabethan Treasures: Miniatures by Hilliard and Oliver (National Portrait Gallery, London, 2019). With the exception of Cleveland, however—which offered their catalogue in both print and digital formats—these catalogues are only in print, with their accessibility limited to purchase or library loan. It was our aim to make this catalogue, and French Paintings and Pastels, 1600–1945: The Collections of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, free of charge and instantly accessible from anywhere in the world.

The majority of the miniatures in the Starr collection had never before been researched; thus, this catalogue offers a tremendous opportunity to share new discoveries about artists and sitters. Even when the identity of a sitter cannot be determined, there is still an incredible wealth of information to take away from each portrait, such as details about period dress, social settings, and artistic style. Every artist in the catalogue has a biography, and most miniatures have an individual entry, some with extended entries of approximately five hundred words. A list of miniatures collected by the Starr Family but given to other institutions appears in a supplement and figuratively reassembles this family’s important original collection.

The catalogue is presented in four volumes, with just under eighty entries and several thematic essays. The first launch includes an introduction on the development of the portrait miniature genre in all its various media. The next three launches include a fascinating history of the formation of the Starr family collection, the unique phenomenon of lover’s eye miniatures, and, finally, a groundbreaking, in-depth survey of John Smart’s career in all three of its phases (London 1760–1785; India 1785–1795; and London 1795–1811). Additional essays on Smart’s military experience and the clientele he derived from this profession are also included.

There has not been significant scholarship on John Smart since the publication of Daphne Foskett’s 1964 monograph on the artist.¹ A more recent and laudable effort by dealer Philip Mould in 2014 built on Foskett’s work, but many more discoveries were yet to be made.² Our research on Smart contextualizes his social networks and patterns of patronage, illuminating a vibrant cross-section of eighteenth-century life across two continents. The increase in our understanding of Smart’s life and work—coupled with a better understanding of his technical process, gained through the systematic examination and select treatment of his miniatures by our team—has led to a nuanced understanding about his working methods in all phases of his career.

It is our hope that these precious keepsakes of love, loss, allegiance, and affection exchanged among intimates hundreds of years ago will leave a lasting impression on readers who learn about the artists, sitters, and, in some cases, the original owners along the way.

Acknowledgments

We are incredibly grateful for the generous support of the Starr family and the Starr Field of Interest Fund. An additional grant provided by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation was instrumental to the development of this digital scholarly endeavor, as was the contribution of funding from the museum’s publication endowment, the Mellon-Frick-Rothschild Fund.

We would like to extend our special thanks for the foundational support and guidance of Catherine L. Futter, former director of curatorial affairs, and her successor, William Keyse Rudolph, current deputy director of curatorial affairs, for his continued support, his love of miniatures, and for shepherding the remainder of this project.

We are indebted to former Nelson-Atkins assistant curator of American art, Katelyn Crawford, and former assistant curator of architecture, design and decorative arts, Stefanie Kae Dlugosz-Acton, for their vision in the early stages of this project, and to curatorial associate of European arts, Meghan Gray, for her adept project management, leadership, and support in seeing this second catalogue generated from the European Arts Department through to publication.

I am eternally grateful to my dedicated co-conspirators and authors, Blythe Sobol and Maggie Keenan. Their interest, knowledge, and passion for portrait miniatures knows no bounds, and this project is richer for their dogged research and ability to synthesize that into cogent entries. Were it not for digital publishing associate and Quire guru Stephanie Alger, this project would be languishing in broken code. Her command of Quire, organizational skills, and prowess in teaching a bunch of curators how to code is impressive. In addition to her scholarly contributions, Maggie also took up the mantle of digital publishing assistant and project manager extraordinaire. Her incredible organization and ability to exercise both sides of her brain has kept this project running smoothly from the back-end coding to the front-end content and everything in between. I sincerely appreciate her graceful confidence at all stages of this project.

Extensive treatments and technical studies of the portrait miniatures were conducted by an exceptional team of conservators. We would like to thank Carol Aiken, veteran conservator of portrait miniatures, whose thoughtful guidance through previous collection surveys, and meticulous expertise through subsequent treatment campaigns, has transformed the miniatures and our understanding of them. We are also grateful that Carol shared her specialized expertise with assistant objects conservator Stephanie Spence, who confidently continued down the path Carol established at the outset of this project. For conservation and treatment of works on paper, as well as matting and framing solutions for related objects, we are grateful to Rachel Freeman, associate paper conservator. We also thank Kasey Hamilton, former third-year graduate intern, who examined and treated several miniatures in anticipation of this catalogue. We are further indebted to Mellon science advisor John Twilley, whose guidance and analytical expertise has contributed significant new research to the catalogue.

We are grateful for the many additional contributions from the knowledgeable conservation staff: Paul Benson, former object conservator; Kate Garland, former senior object conservator; Joe Rogers, conservation associate; Saori Lewis, associate photography conservator; Gene Cooper, former conservation department coordinator; and R. Bruce North, museum volunteer.

Our Nelson-Atkins curatorial colleagues deserve additional thanks, especially provenance specialist MacKenzie Mallon for her superior advice, networks, and archival research on past collectors. For general support and encouragement, we would also like to thank Brigid Boyle, Bloch Family Foundation Doctoral Fellow; Danielle Hampton Cullen and Glynnis Stevenson, project assistants for the French paintings catalogue; Stephanie Fox Knappe, the Samuel Sosland Senior Curator of American Art; Julie Webber, curatorial assistant for Photography and coordinator for exhibition planning; Ollie Pamplin, curatorial assistant for Global Modern and Contemporary and American Art; and Finn Miller, curatorial assistant for African Art & European Arts. For administrative help in the formative stages of this project, we would like to thank the former assistant for the Architecture, Design and Decorative Arts department Karin Jones, as well as former assistant for the European Arts department Tiffany Hamblin.

Extra thanks to the information technology team at the Nelson-Atkins, especially Rachel Rolon, senior software programmer, and Bryan DeWitt, vice president of earned income and guest services, for their support as we transitioned to a new version of Quire. Thanks also to Metie Edessa, Tobias Sol, and Shelly Xiong, software developers, for their analytical thinking and adaptability.

Many external colleagues shared their expertise that advanced our knowledge of the miniatures collection, especially Elle Shushan, miniatures specialist; Stephen Lloyd, The Derby Collection, Knowsley Hall; Katie Coombs, Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Alan Derbyshire, independent conservator; Bernd Pappe, Tansey Miniatures Foundation, Celle, Germany; Bodo Hofstetter, independent art historian; Emma Rutherford at Philip Mould, London; Paul Caffrey, National College of Art and Design, Dublin; Cory Korkow, Cleveland Museum of Art; Cecilia Rönnerstam, Nationalmuseum, Sweden; Claudia Hill, Ellison Fine Art, London; Suzanne Zack, consultant; and military specialists Richard Warren, Andrew Cormack, and Christopher Bryant.

We owe a special debt of gratitude to the many libraries, archives, museums, auction houses, dealers, and collectors who helped with our research, shared their family histories, and generously opened their archives and collections to us, including Helen Godfrey and the Foskett family, Edinburgh; The Heinz Library, London; Sandra Howat and His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry; Donald LaRocca, Chassica Kirchoff, Katharine Baetjer, and Patrice Mattia, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Morgan Library and Museum, New York; Liz Louis, curator of portraiture, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh; Glenn Dunne, Reprographic Department, and James Harte, Special Collections, National Library of Ireland, Dublin; Mel Buchanan, New Orleans Museum of Art; Tiffany Roberts, assistant registrar, Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa; Katherine Gazzard, curator of art, Royal Museums Greenwich; Susan Earle, Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS; The Witt Library, London.

We extend sincere thanks to the staff of the many departments in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, including Roberta Wagener and Richaela Staley, in library access services, for helping us track down sources and managing interlibrary loan requests; Tara Laver, senior archivist, and Miranda Mahoney, archives assistant, for always welcoming catalogue researchers and suggesting new avenues of investigation; Amelia Nelson, director of library and archives, and the entire library staff for their support in conducting research and obtaining references; former and current grant writers Ann Friedman (emerita), Emily Leck, and Jennifer Murphy, who identified new funding sources, wrote and edited applications, and managed report deadlines to keep us funded; development staff for campaigning for funds for the catalogue; Christine Droll, former database and collections registrar, and Meredith Weimer, current associate database and collections registrar, for their help creating new fields to house the growing body of information we assembled; the preparation staff for moving the miniatures for photography and installation; Madison Zalopany, former director of community programs and partnerships, and Lucy Crabtree, former coordinator of Deaf culture programs, for their sensitive advice and insight on writing about disability; graphic design staff for their advice on the style of the digital publication; Karrah Merritt (director, talent and people), Kelly Summers (vice president), and the entire People and Culture team for keeping the catalogue staffed with interns and personnel; Ricky Andersen, Dana Anderson, Joshua Ferdinand, Gabe Hopkins, Zak Meek, and the staff of media services for organizing, photographing, and editing nearly three hundred miniatures (front and back, so really closer to six hundred!); Casey Claps and Wendy Leach of the museum shop for listening to and often running with many of our million ideas for store products; and to the talented staff of marketing and communications, Samantha Beneski, Michele Boeckholt, Christi Delaroy, Kathleen Leighton, and Justin Wheatley for celebrating the launch of the catalogue.

We are grateful Jessica Skwire Routhier, copy editor, for her attention to detail, flexibility, and good humor. Any errors that remain are ours alone.

We are especially grateful to the bright and dedicated interns who provided significant research and file organization throughout the creation of the catalogue: Keiran Ackermann, Madelyn Girard, Bailey McCulloch, Cara Nordengren, Andrea Rico, Jordan Sears, Hailey Slaughter, Sophie Stebbins, and Isabel Thoroughman. We also thank the indefatigable team of volunteers who donated considerable time and energy to our project: Tracey Bormann Cattarin, Sydney Breakfield, Suzanne Franklin, Hannah Madden, Ann Miller, Karen Pearson, Michelle Shekleton, Bridget Shields, Karen Skillett, and Susan Stanley. We also appreciate the assistance of Ella Elshekh and Marcus Harvey as we prepared the catalogue for its online debut and transitioned between two versions of the publication software.

Greg Albers, digital publications manager, Erin Cecele Dunigan, community manager, and developers at the J. Paul Getty Trust deserve special mention for always being available to answer questions and for openly sharing Quire, their digital publishing platform. We are grateful to developer Michael Taggart for his early work creating special features for Quire on our behalf for the museum’s catalogue of French paintings, some of which find form in this catalogue.

Any effort of this magnitude requires support at all levels, and we are especially thankful to those at the top, including Julián Zugazagoitia, Director and CEO; Tammy Bluhm, vice president finance and CFO; Karen Christiansen, former COO; and Amanda Stone, executive vice president, for their unwavering support and leadership through the genesis and publication of the museum’s second digital scholarly collection catalogue.

Notes

1. Daphne Foskett, John Smart: The Man and His Miniatures (New York: October House, 1964).

2. See Emma Rutherford and Lawrence Hendra, John Smart (1741–1811): A Genius Magnified, exh. cat. (London: Philip Mould and Company, 2014).

doi: 10.37764/8322.6.40