Peter Adolf Hall (1739–93), Portrait of a Young Man, watercolour and gouache on ivory, 3.7cm x 2.9cm Sinebrychoff Collection, Finnish National Gallery / Sinebrychoff Art Museum Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Simo Karisalo

Mementos on Display: Portrait Miniatures in the Sinebrychoffs’ Art Collection

Hilla Männikkö, MA student, University of Helsinki

This article is published following the author’s three-month research internship at the Finnish National Gallery

Introduction

There are very few people who haven’t felt moved when looking at a picture of their loved one. A face, especially when belonging to someone dear, has the power to evoke a multitude of feelings: love, anger, possessiveness or heartache, to name a few. As we live in the contemporary world, this type of picture is usually a photograph. In my primary school we used to wait for the days when a photographer came to take the annual school photographs. We sat for the group picture, pictures with our friends and our portrait pictures with hair brushed and a smile elicited by the funny word. After a few weeks, the photos arrived and it was time to call on our courage and ask for a little sticker photo from our secret (or not-so-secret) crush. If we were lucky enough to obtain one, it was cherished. I stuck mine between the back of my phone and the battery to keep it always with me, but hidden from meaningful glances.

This ritual from my childhood nearly 20 years ago reminds me of portrait miniatures and their use as personal mementos across several centuries. Before the invention of photographs these items held a great sentimental value and were in active use in strengthening emotional bonds between lovers and family members. During my internship at the Finnish National Gallery I have acquainted myself with these small gems and their character.

I chose to study Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff’s collection of miniatures that is housed at the Sinebrychoff Art Museum as a part of Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff’s art collection. Today the National Gallery’s entire collection of miniatures comprises about 400 items, of which around 340 belong to the original collection by Paul and Fanny. Their original miniature collection was formed over roughly two decades – from the end of the 1880s to c. 1913 – and was then donated to the Finnish state in 1921.[1] Since the original donation the collection in the National Gallery has been increased by several further donations and purchases.

The collection of miniatures has been previously researched, but the main focus has been on basic and conservatory research on how the collection was formed and what it actually includes in terms of artists and materials.[2] Even though this work is still in progress, in this article my aim is not to make a thorough report on the collection or its developments, but rather to study it from several thematic viewpoints. First of all, I will approach a portrait miniature as an object that has a certain character. I will examine it as a material and social object and place it in the context of the Sinebrychoffs’ collecting interests. Here, I will reflect on the question of what kinds of qualities make the portrait miniature an appealing object for both the original owner and the collector. How do their experiences differ and what do they have in common?

I have approached these questions by sifting through some parts of the Finnish National Gallery Archive Collections, studying research literature on the material and social aspects of portrait miniatures and taking a closer look at Paul Sinebrychoff’s letters from equivalent viewpoints.[3] I have also had the opportunity to examine Paul’s own original catalogue of their miniatures, the catalogue of the collection made after Fanny’s donation, as well as auction catalogues from Bukowski’s auction house in Sweden. There is still a variety of archive material on the Sinebrychoff collection that would require further research in the future which could also shed light on the issues concerned in this article.

The Sinebrychoffs’ collection of miniatures contains mainly portrait miniatures but also some examples of other genres, such as mythological scenes. In my research I have concentrated on the original part of the collection collected by Paul and Fanny. From the vast amount of objects, I have chosen portrait miniatures that depict private individuals and were commissioned as personal keepsakes as the ones to be presented in this article. Thus in the later sections, when discussing miniatures in general, I will not consider portraits of sovereigns or other socialites, which play a considerable role in the history of miniatures but whose function differs significantly from that of their more private counterparts. Finally, I have highlighted some items from the collection, which best express the social or material aspects of miniatures that are the focus of this article.

[1] This timing of active collecting is based on information gathered from Paul’s letters and submitted to the author as a verbal notice by curator Reetta Kuojärvi-Närhi, who has studied the Sinebrychoffs’ collecting activities in depth. On the donation, see Ira Westergård. ‘A gift to the nation: Fanny Sinebrychoff and the donation of the Sinebrychoff art collection’, in Salla Heino, Kirsi Eskelinen (eds.), A Bulevardi Home – Art Collectors Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff. Helsinki: Finnish National Gallery / Sinebrychoff Art Museum, 2021, (212–31) 221.

[2] See e.g. Reetta Kuojärvi-Närhi & Synnöve Malmström (eds.). Miniatyyrit. Helsinki: Valtion taidemuseo, 2002.

[3] I have used the letters from the years 1895 to 1909, about 477 items in total, which can be found translated into Finnish and transcribed on the web-page Paul Sinebrychoffin kirjearkisto [Paul Sinebrychoff’s Letter Archive], http://kirjearkisto.siff.fi/default.aspx (accessed 15 June 2022).

Featured image: Peter Adolf Hall (1739–93), Portrait of a Young Man,
watercolour and gouache on ivory, 3.7cm x 2.9cm
Sinebrychoff Collection, Finnish National Gallery /
Sinebrychoff Art Museum
Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Simo Karisalo
Public domain. This image of a work of art is released under a CC0 licence, and can be freely used because the copyright (70 full calendar years after the death of the artist) has expired.

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Giovanni Domenico Bossi, Portrait of a Lady, undated, watercolour and gouache on ivory, 6,3cm x 6,3cm, Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff Collection, Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Finnish National Gallery. Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Hannu Aaltonen

Editorial: Sinebrychoff’s Small Gems

Kirsi Eskelinen, PhD, Museum Director, Sinebrychoff Art Museum

 

July 14, 2016

 

The renowned art collector Paul Sinebrychoff had a special interest in portraits. He also gathered a rare collection of miniatures which, in his own time in the late 19th century, was the largest collection in Northern Europe. The collection includes about 400 pieces and is still the most important collection in Finland.

About 15 years ago, the miniatures were studied and conservation work was then carried out on them as part of a thorough renewal and restoration of the museum building of the Sinebrychoff Art Museum on Bulevardi in Helsinki. However, as is the case with every part of the collection, they need to be taken care of on a continuous basis. Now, the miniatures are being treated again. There are only a few specialists in miniature painting conservation. Dr. Bernd Pappe, who is interviewed in this issue, is a world-renowned specialist in this field, as well as an art historian. He reveals the painstaking work behind the scenes.

During the past two years special effort has been put into developing the access to the art works in Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff’s house museum. It is an essential part of the Sinebrychoff Art Museum’s new strategy to engage our audiences and generate a new kind of dialogue and encounter with the art works in the milieu of the collector’s home, which is a unique example of its kind in Finland. When visiting our website you can already have a virtual tour of the house museum or make acquaintance with Paul Sinebrychoff’s favourite portraits – his friends as he used to call them – hanging in his study.

Museum curator Reetta Kuojärvi-Närhi has studied the miniature collection. She is currently leading a project on the miniatures, which enables us to present them with a digital platform to make them more accessible and even more enjoyable and exciting to the general public.

Featured image: Giovanni Domenico Bossi, Portrait of a Lady, undated, watercolour and gouache on ivory, 6,3cm x 6,3cm, Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff Collection, Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Finnish National Gallery. Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Hannu Aaltonen

Jacob Axel Gillberg, Self-Portrait, 1815, watercolour and gouache on ivory, 6,2cm x 6,2cm, Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff Collection, Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Finnish National Gallery Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Janne Mäkinen

Small is Beautiful

Gill Crabbe, FNG Research

The Sinebrychoff Art Museum has one of the finest collections of portrait miniatures in the Nordic region. Curator Reetta Kuojärvi-Närhi gives Gill Crabbe the backdrop to the conservation work that has taken place over 15 years of collaboration with the specialist conservator Bernd Pappe

Paul Sinebrychoff’s collection of miniatures, which date from the 17th to 19th centuries, originally enjoyed pride of place in the salon of his home in Bulevardi, Helsinki, which is now the Finnish National Gallery’s Sinebrychoff Art Museum. As museum curator Reetta Kuojärvi-Närhi explains, ‘They were his treasures and he started by buying two big collections of about 100 pieces each, having done his own research. Altogether, though, he collected around 400 images which are contained in more than 320 items (some miniatures contain multiple images).’ Sinebrychoff’s treasure trove has been augmented by a further 46 miniatures collected by Mikko and Mary Mannio, as well as seven miniatures acquired through other donations.

Today a selection of these miniatures is on display in a specially designed room with lighting suitable for conservation purposes and in a cabinet that enables the viewer to see the exquisite workmanship in closer detail. Much of this display has been conserved by Bernd Pappe, a leading expert in miniature conservation, who first visited the museum as an advisor 15 years ago, and then as conservator. On his most recent visit in April 2016, he has been bringing many works up to the standard required for them to go on show in the permanent exhibition. This has been part of a two-year project during which Pappe has concentrated on replacing the damaged glasses in the frames.

Featured image: Jacob Axel Gillberg, Self-Portrait, 1815, watercolour and gouache on ivory, 6,2cm x 6,2cm, Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff Collection, Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Finnish National Gallery Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Janne Mäkinen

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Bernd Pappe at the Sinebrychoff Art Museum’s specially designed room where the collection of miniatures is displayed. Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Hannu Pakarinen

It’s All in the Detail – Interview with Dr. Bernd Pappe

Gill Crabbe, FNG Research

The leading international conservator Bernd Pappe has been involved in a major conservation project at the Sinebrychoff Art Museum. Gill Crabbe meets him to find out how he has brought exquisite portrait miniatures in the collection up to display quality

Featured image: Bernd Pappe at the Sinebrychoff Art Museum’s specially designed room where the collection of miniatures is displayed. Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Hannu Pakarinen

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To watch a video of Bernd Pappe talking about replacing weeping glasses, click here: https://vimeo.com/174356601

Peter Adolf Hall, Treasurer Johan Gottlob Brusell (1756–1829), watercolour and gouache on ivory, 8.3cm x 6.6cm, marked: Hall 1783/5. Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff Collection, Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Finnish National Gallery Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Hannu Aaltonen

The Enigmatic Mr Brusell

Reetta Kuojärvi-Närhi, Curator, Sinebrychoff Art Museum

First published in Art’s Memory – Layers of Conservation. Edited by Reetta Kuojärvi-Närhi, Maija Santala, Ari Tanhuanpää, Anne-Mari Forss. Sinebrychoffin taidemuseon julkaisuja (Sinebrychoff Art Museum Publications). Helsinki: Finnish National Gallery / Sinebrychoff Art Museum, 2005

Treasurer Johan Gottlob Brusell, by the Swedish painter Peter Adolf Hall, is one of the most valued portrait miniatures in the Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff Collection. The work is marked with an indistinct signature and the date 1783/5 on the right-hand side.

Paul Sinebrychoff bought the miniature in 1904 from his distant relatives, the Falkman family of Sweden[1]. It had been in the possession of the family for several generations. In his correspondence with Bukowski, Sinebrychoff mentioned that he was fascinated by the miniature and sent a photograph of it for evaluation. Dr. Palm, from the Bukowski auction house, thanked him cordially for the photograph and praised the beauty of the piece, noting that there was a similar painting in a Swedish collection.[2] It has since been discovered that several versions of the miniature were made[3], which begs the question, why so many versions?

When Paul Sinebrychoff bought the miniature, it was presumed to be a portrait of Carl Michael Bellman, Sweden’s national poet, which would explain the numerous versions. The questions of whether the subject is of similar appearance and age as Bellman and whether or not Hall and Bellman ever met, remained unanswered for decades. The truth was not revealed until the early 1900s as the result of research by the Danish art historian Torben Holck Colding[4]. The subject proved to be Johan Gottlob Brusell, as indicated by an inscription discovered on the reverse of a miniature in a collection in Copenhagen. Written in ink, the text read: ‘Kamereraren vid Museum Brusells portrait målad af Hall i Paris’ (‘Portrait of Museum Treasurer Brusell painted by Hall in Paris’). This attribution is confirmed by the fact that Johan Brusell had visited Paris around 1783. There has never been any doubt regarding the artist. The miniature is an example of Peter Adolf Hall’s work at its most typical and is one of his best works.

[1] Carlén 1861. Provenance attributed to the clothing merchant Carl Ahrens 1861 is uncertain.
[2] This was in the collection of the wholesaler Setterwall. The work was kept in the family, and is known to have been in Gothenburg in 1950.
[3] At least seven different works are known.
[4] Colding 1950, 145–50.

Featured image: Peter Adolf Hall, Treasurer Johan Gottlob Brusell (1756–1829), watercolour and gouache on ivory, 8.3cm x 6.6cm, marked: Hall 1783/5. Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff Collection, Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Finnish National Gallery
Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Hannu Aaltonen

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