A Ribboned Hat

John Miers, circa 1790

£2,200

It was early on in John Miers’s career that he began to advertise his ability to reduce profiles to a small size ‘upon ivory for Rings, Breast Pins, Bracelets &c., also for Watch Papers … the likeness perfectly preserved’. Of the surviving jewellery pieces from his studio, silhouette rings are the most difficult to come by, either because there were fewer commissioned or because, by their nature, they were more easily damaged or lost.

This fine silhouette ring comes from a private collection of long-standing. It depicts an elegant lady wearing a dress with a frilled neckline and a tall hard-crowned hat generously trimmed with ribbons and bows, her hair arranged in a chignon. The silhouette is signed Miers under the bust-line and is set in a gold ring.

Ring size: N / 6¾

Some light scratches to the glass and a teeny ding to the underside but otherwise very fine.

Ivory Registration: NMPAP2D4

Item Ref. C505

Size: 32mm high

Provenance: Acquired for the Christie Collection on 11 August 1915 from Butcher Row, Coventry

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