The Portrait Miniature — Oval Bespoke Pendant
There are some faces one ought not be obliged to leave at home.
The portrait miniature became an especially intimate form of remembrance in the 18th century, when small painted likenesses were worn, exchanged between lovers, carried on journeys, and kept close by families long before photography made a face easy to preserve.
With this collection, we mean to resurrect the portrait-miniature trade for the present day.
Send us a photograph of the person you wish to preserve, and we will prepare the image specifically for its miniature setting. Your photograph may be transformed into either a painted portrait-style likeness or a black profile silhouette, giving each piece the character of an eighteenth-century keepsake rather than a standard printed photograph.
Each portrait is individually adapted for the oval format, with attention given to cropping, composition, facial prominence, and the proportions required for such a small scale. No two are quite alike.
The finished portrait is reproduced upon an oval pendant measuring ¾ × 1 inch, fashioned from gold-plated stainless steel and supplied with an 18-inch gold-plated stainless-steel box chain.
And unlike the delicate painted miniatures of the 18 century, these modern descendants need not be guarded quite so anxiously from the elements: the pendant is scratch- and water-resistant, and may safely encounter the occasional rainstorm, splash, or other indignity of modern life.
Sterling silver is available upon request.
Each piece is printed in the United States and arrives presented in a gift box, ready for giving—or, very reasonably, keeping for oneself.
Thus may one carry excellent company upon one’s person, without requiring the original to abandon all prior engagements.
Details
Custom portrait miniature oval pendant
Your photograph transformed into a painted portrait-style likeness or black profile silhouette
Each image individually composed for the miniature oval format
Inspired by eighteenth-century portrait miniatures and personal keepsakes
Pendant size: 0.75 × 1 in. / 1.9 × 2.54 cm
Chain length: 18 in. / 45.72 cm
Gold-plated stainless-steel pendant
Gold-plated stainless-steel box chain
Sterling silver available upon request
Scratch- and water-resistant
Presented in a gift box
About Ab Aeterno™
Ab Aeterno™ is an interdisciplinary poetry and arts project exploring memory, time, desire, history, and the objects through which people preserve what matters to them. Its work moves across poetry, music, scent, portraiture, printed matter, and keepsakes designed to carry those ideas into physical form.
Learn more about Ab Aeterno™ →
There are some faces one ought not be obliged to leave at home.
The portrait miniature became an especially intimate form of remembrance in the 18th century, when small painted likenesses were worn, exchanged between lovers, carried on journeys, and kept close by families long before photography made a face easy to preserve.
With this collection, we mean to resurrect the portrait-miniature trade for the present day.
Send us a photograph of the person you wish to preserve, and we will prepare the image specifically for its miniature setting. Your photograph may be transformed into either a painted portrait-style likeness or a black profile silhouette, giving each piece the character of an eighteenth-century keepsake rather than a standard printed photograph.
Each portrait is individually adapted for the oval format, with attention given to cropping, composition, facial prominence, and the proportions required for such a small scale. No two are quite alike.
The finished portrait is reproduced upon an oval pendant measuring ¾ × 1 inch, fashioned from gold-plated stainless steel and supplied with an 18-inch gold-plated stainless-steel box chain.
And unlike the delicate painted miniatures of the 18 century, these modern descendants need not be guarded quite so anxiously from the elements: the pendant is scratch- and water-resistant, and may safely encounter the occasional rainstorm, splash, or other indignity of modern life.
Sterling silver is available upon request.
Each piece is printed in the United States and arrives presented in a gift box, ready for giving—or, very reasonably, keeping for oneself.
Thus may one carry excellent company upon one’s person, without requiring the original to abandon all prior engagements.
Details
Custom portrait miniature oval pendant
Your photograph transformed into a painted portrait-style likeness or black profile silhouette
Each image individually composed for the miniature oval format
Inspired by eighteenth-century portrait miniatures and personal keepsakes
Pendant size: 0.75 × 1 in. / 1.9 × 2.54 cm
Chain length: 18 in. / 45.72 cm
Gold-plated stainless-steel pendant
Gold-plated stainless-steel box chain
Sterling silver available upon request
Scratch- and water-resistant
Presented in a gift box