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Accession #	16.687.1
Artist	Thomas Seir Cummings
Title	Portrait of Elizabeth Stirling Foote
Date	1832
Medium	Watercolor on ivory portrait in brass locket with glass lenses on both sides
Dimensions	Image (sight): 2 11/16 x 2 3/16 in. (6.8 x 5.6 cm) Frame: 3 x 2 5/8 in. (7.6 x 6.7 cm) Frame (height with loop): 3 7/16 in. (8.7 cm) Case: 4 3/16 x 3 1/8 x 1 in. (10.6 x 7.9 x 2.5 cm)
Signed	Signed in pencil on verso: "Cummings Pinx.t; dated 1832."
Credit Line	Museum Collection Fund
Location	Visible Storage: Case 47, Drawer A
Description	Locket has a small window on the verso (window is empty) and glass lens is dislodged, paper and fabric backing inside; companion piece 16.687.2. Miniature is housed in fitted red leather case with latch.

Curatorial Remarks: In keeping with the emotional symbolism of miniatures, couples frequently exchanged these tokens to mark an engagement or wedding, as was the case for Elizabeth Stirling (1811–1900) and Erasmus Darwin Foote (1808–1866), who married in March 1833. (Accession no. 16.687.2, in Drawer 47A, is the companion miniature.) The artist, Thomas Seir Cummings of New York, was the most famous miniaturist of his day and also taught and published on the subject. Contemporary critics praised his works for their ability to “raise sensations in the bosoms of those who gaze on them.”