Case for portrait, hinged

DateProbably 1650-1670

OriginEngland or Europe, Netherlands, Holland

MediumStamped, brown leather case with brass hinge and clasp, lined in green silk

DimensionsOverall: 2 7/8 x 2 3/8in. (7.3 x 6cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1995-23,2

DescriptionAn oval-shaped, stamped, brown leather case with brass hinge and clasp, lined in green silk.Label TextA fair number of miniature portraits with accompanying mica overlays survive. In the manner of clothing modern day paper dolls, the overlays can easily be removed and replaced to alter the subject's appearance.
Charles I (1600-1649) was the portrait subject of many of these seventeenth-century transformation sets, the overlays placing him in contexts immediately before and after his execution. In other sets, the portrait shows a female subject that can be identified as Henrietta Maria (1609-1669). In still other instances, however, the subject of the portrait is likely fanciful, which seems to be the case with CWF's example.
The execution of Charles I may have initiated (or, more likely, popularized) a fad for such sets. Yet clearly some, particularly those featuring fictitious subjects, were fabricated for the simple sake of amusement. Many overlays for female subjects, like some of CWF's, show the women "en travesti" (dressed as men).
Mica is a naturally occurring mineral that can be cleft into thin transparent sheets. Because of the fragility of these laminae, however, few or no transformation sets survive with their full complement of overlays. As many as twenty-four may have accompanied some images of Charles I; CWF's set includes sixteen.
Although the overlays alter the look of the base subject in a manner similar to modern paper doll outfits, some seventeenth century overlays include larger contexts, such as draperies, accoutrements, backgrounds, and even the faces of other figures. Some, if not all, of these sets were produced in Holland.