The Lens of Desire - Eye Miniatures - ca. 1790–1810

Miniatures are a subgenre of portraiture, and within miniatures lies another, more enigmatic form: paintings of a single eye.

Dubbed “lover’s eyes” by one astute antique dealer, most eye miniatures were painted in watercolor on ivory between the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They were set in rings, lockets, brooches, and similar objects, and exchanged as gifts between lovers. Luminous, exquisite, and fragile, lover’s eyes did not mean, as it might seem, “I have my eye on you,” but rather “You have my heart, and this is my eye to prove it.”

By 1770, miniature portraits were ubiquitous and easy to commission. The most plausible explanation for the success of this phenomenon lies in the erotic imagination of clients. A disembodied eye is recognizable only to an intimate partner, making it an unusually private symbol, the exchange of which was appropriate for couples whose arrangements were necessarily secret, and perhaps even for couples whose arrangements were not secret, but who enjoyed the erotic thrill of coded language.

The trend began when the future King George IV fell in love with Maria Fitzherbert, a woman unsuited to his station (a widow, a Catholic, and of humble origins). He secretly sent her a painting of his eye as a marriage proposal. The proposal was well received, and after a long and tumultuous relationship, he was later buried with a miniature of her eye.

The best way to understand lover’s eyes, it seems, is through another contemporary miniature, which depicts not an eye, but a tiny painting of two breasts. Beauty Revealed is the anomaly that unravels the pattern. The self-portrait was given by one of the most famous miniaturists of her time, Sarah Goodridge, to her lover, the politician Daniel Webster. It is an intoxicating gift of flesh, wrapped like the baby Jesus, at once delicate and kitsch, with the slightest imperfection (the mole, the asymmetry) serving a more perfected beauty. Here I am. Don’t forget. Take me. Goodridge must have decided that an eye was far too modest and cryptic.

- Choice of Natural or black pinewood frames
- Printed on 250 g/m² photo paper with Matte finish
- Protective acrylic glass and ready-to-hang hardware included
- Vibrant, high-resolution prints using modern printing techniques

Custom made product (1-2 days time production)

Europe: Shipping: 3-6 business days after production

United States: Shipping: 2-4 business days after production