Worn as pendants and bracelets, carried within a pocket, or hung in a cabinet, portrait miniatures were prized for their likenesses of family members, friends, and loved ones as well as for their minute size, precious materials, and skillful execution. The anniversary gift of a remarkable group of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century miniatures assembled by Jeannette B. S. Whitebook Lasker forms a prominent addition to the Museum’s collection, contributing works in innovative and challenging techniques by leading artists.

In the American republic, prominent citizens of Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore commissioned miniatures from itinerant artists. Gouverneur Morris, a member of the Continental Congress and later a senator from New York, sat for his portrait by a foreign-born, possibly French, artist. Presented in the fashionable clothes and hairstyle of the early nineteenth century, he wears a miniature, perhaps depicting his wife, pinned to his chest. Jennifer Thompson, from Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gifts in Honor of the 125th Anniversary (2002), p. 68.