The Jean Frank Hamann Collection of Portrait Miniatures

BETH MATTISON, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art

In 2024, the Hood Museum was honored to receive a gift of thirty-one European portrait miniatures from the collection of Jean Frank Hamann (1933–2023). Part of a collection of 114 miniatures that Jean amassed over the span of about thirty years, this generous donation represents a significant addition to the Hood Museum and to Dartmouth. (The American portraits in the collection were donated to the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, Massachusetts.) Portrait miniatures, so called due to their small scale, were a common form of commemoration from about the 16th through the 19th centuries. Generally measuring less than seven inches high, these miniatures could be worn as jewelry or kept in special cases for individual viewing. While the materials and techniques varied, portrait miniatures were often commissioned to memorialize important occasions, such as a wedding or departure for military service. Their intimate format made them ideal to give as gifts to loved ones or friends. 

Jean Frank Hamann's collecting, unusually, focused on portraits of children—images that are much rarer than those of adults. A portrait of a child often marked a significant familial moment, whether a happy one like a baptism or a more tragic one such as an early death. Portraits of children among clouds, like many of the examples in this collection, indicate the latter. For example, the portrait of Charles Robert Webber by the artist Henry Pierce Bone was made in 1835, four years after the child had passed away at just over four months old. An inscription on the back records the events of Charles's short life, and the miniature would have allowed his parents to remember him in a tangible way. These miniatures offer important insight into the structures of families and the lives of children in this era—the kind of personal information that is often left out of written records. 

This donation adds tremendous value to the Hood Museum's collection. Prior to the gift of these portraits, the Hood Museum had only four examples of Europe portrait miniatures. Yet, these works were immensely popular among different social classes and across various countries. Now, with a selection ranging across four centuries and spanning England, France, the Netherlands, and Germany, the Hood Museum can more fully represent the daily lives of families over time. 

It is hard to point to highlights in the collection, as each miniature tells a different story. In one French miniature (2024.77.17) from the 18th century, three children play with a cat and a dog, hinting at a rambunctious household. This miniature is double sided: on the other side, a mother in a loose cap holds a baby while wearing a portrait miniature at her neck, indicating how these paintings would have become part of everyday attire. Another French miniature from the same period (2024.77.26) features a brother and a sister, both dressed in blue costumes adorned with lace. The older sister wraps her arm protectively around the little boy, who points to her with his mouth twitching in a small smile. The portrait preserves the loving relationship of these siblings, even though we no longer know their names. 

These small-scale images chart many histories. Through them, we can gain a sense of the shifting tastes in children's clothing and the ways in which fashions became a marker of identity. The miniatures also demonstrate the changing notions of childhood; while some babies are represented stiffly as miniature adults, others appear playful with toys in their hands. These portraits form a history of families and both love and loss in the most intimate of formats. 

Click here to view this object's catalogue entry.