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William Blake: PD.61-1950

An image of Miniature (painting)
View image details Mirador icon - view image Mirador deep zoom IIIF Manifest IIIF Manifest Slow looking

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Alternative views

An image of Miniature (painting)
An image of Miniature (painting)
Current Location: In storage

Titles

William Blake

Maker(s)

Miniaturist: Linnell, John

Entities

Categories

Notes

History note: John Linnell (d. 1882); the Linnell Trustees; Linnell Sale, Christie's, 15 March, 1918 (part of lot 169); bt. by Messrs Carfax for T.H. Riches (85 gns)

Legal notes

Bequeathed 1935, with a life interest to his widow (d. 1950).

Measurements and weight

Height: 133 mm
Width: 106 mm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1950) by Riches, Thomas Henry

Dating

1820s
Production date: AD 1821 : Date by Bindman, see 'notes'.

School or Style

British

People, subjects and objects depicted

Materials used in production

Watercolour

Components of the work

Support composed of ivory ( Elephant ivory. Species ID by Jo Dillon 2023-12-13 (visual examination of front and edges; back obscured by mount: low magnification, raking light): The flat plaque is made from a very thin cross-section, taken from the solid part of a large elephant ivory tusk near the central nerve cavity. The near-centre of the tusk is visible as an off-centre darker oval on the top and bottom edges. Longitudinal grain direction: top to bottom. The grain is coarser towards both long sides, indicating the plaque is made from a cross-section that approached the outer parts of the tusk's diameter. The cross-section is too thin to clearly exhibit the characteristic Schreger lines. However, the ivory exhibits the diagnostic "flame effect", where the longitudinal grain is coarser towards the long sides.)

Techniques used in production

Watercolour : Watercolour on ivory

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: PD.61-1950
Primary reference Number: 11967

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 15 October 2025

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "William Blake" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/11967 Accessed: 2025-12-05 08:05:59

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/11967 |title=William Blake |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 08:05:59|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-11967

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<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp82/PD_61_1950_201505_adn21_dc2.jpg"
        alt="William Blake"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">William Blake</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>

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