Philip Rosenbach purchased a collection of 450 portrait miniatures from English painter Talbot Hughes in 1928. The largest collection of oil on copper miniatures in the United States, it includes portraits painted by English, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, and French artists. In addition to the Hughes collection, the Rosenbach maintains a fine selection of American, English, and Continental miniatures in other media: watercolor on vellum, watercolor on ivory, enamel, and wax, as well as one miniaturist’s paintbox and another’s diary and account book. The portraits date from the 16th to the 19th century. Although many retain their original frames, a large number have been reframed, probably by an earlier collector, to standardize their appearance. Philip Rosenbach displayed the miniatures grouped in a series of tortoise-shell frames.

Fine and Decorative Arts

Fine Arts

Metal, Ceramics, and Glass

Portrait Miniatures

Furniture, Clocks, Looking
Glasses, Lighting, and Textiles

Vertu and Jewelry

Rare Books, Manuscripts,
Maps, and Broadsides

Americana

English, American, and
Continental Literature

Book Arts, Incunabula,
Maps and Broadsides

Judaica, Children’s Literature,
and Rosenbachiana

Collections Highlights

James Joyce's Ulysses

Marianne Moore Archive

Maurice Sendak Collection