James Nixon, Portrait of a Man, 1790, enamel on metal mounted under glass in a gilt bronze pendant case, 2 x 1 1/2 x 3/16 in. (5.1 x 3.8 x .5 cm), Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Gift of the Starr Foundation, Inc., 1958.17.21

James Nixon, Portrait of a Man, 1790

Artist James Nixon (English, ca. 1741–1812)
Former Attribution Christian Friedrich Zincke (German, ca. 1684–1767)
Title Portrait of a Man
Object Date 1790
Medium Enamel on metal
Setting Gilt bronze pendant case
Dimensions 2 x 1 1/2 x 3/16 in. (5.1 x 3.8 x .5 cm)
Credit Line Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Gift of the Starr Foundation, Inc., 1958.17.21

doi: 10.37764/8322.5.4537

Artist's Biography

See the artist’s biography in volume 4.

Provenance

With Snyderman’s, New York, by May 1951 [1];

Purchased from Snyderman’s by Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, May 1951–August 7, 1958;

Their gift, through the Starr Foundation, Inc., Kansas City, MO, to the Philbrook Art Center, now Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK, 1958 [2].

Notes

[1] As recorded in the deed of gift and the Philbrook Museum of Art object file. The Art Trading Company and Snyderman Gallery marketed themselves using both names at the same address and were likely managed by the same person, I. Snyderman. They advertised miniatures, as well as gold and enameled boxes, in The Art News and also specified in the phone book that they sold coins. The Starrs mention both the Art Trading Company and “Snyderman’s” in the provenance records for their collection. They list this miniature as being purchased from Snyderman’s.

[2] The Starr deed of gift lists this work as by C[hristian] F[riedrich] Zincke (German, ca. 1684–1767). However, the miniature was attributed to Nixon after consultation with Carol Aiken and Elle Shushan in 2012.

References

Manhattan Telephone Directory 1959–1960 (New York: New York Telephone Company, 1959).

The Art News 37, no. 4 (May 27, 1939): 28.

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James Nixon, Portrait of a Man, 1790, enamel on metal mounted under glass in a gilt bronze pendant case, 2 x 1 1/2 x 3/16 in. (5.1 x 3.8 x .5 cm), Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Gift of the Starr Foundation, Inc., 1958.17.21