Lover’s Eye Watch Fob
Miniature paintings in watercolor on ivory, of a single eye, were introduced first in France and quickly became a fad in Great Britain in the late eighteenth-century. This art form later transferred, in a modest way, to the United States by the early nineteenth-century. They came to be known as “lover’s eyes” –- intensely private objects, usually of the giver’s eye presented to a loved one. The disembodied eye allowed the viewer to gaze upon the object of their affection, known only to them, and then, actively, the gaze was returned. Eye miniatures also served as mourning jewelry for lost loved ones.
Artwork Details
- Title: Lover’s Eye Watch Fob
- Date: ca. 1820
- Culture: Probably British
- Medium: 4 watercolor on ivory lover’s eyes set in gold cases and attached to a gold and hairwork chain
- Dimensions: 9 5/8 × 7/16 in. (24.4 × 1.1 cm)
- Credit Line: Purchase, Dale T. Johnson Fund, 2023
- Object Number: 2024.229
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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Messenger Company
1835–40
American or British
ca. 1820
American or British
1800–1820
American or British
1800–1820
American or British
1815–20
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