Sir William Palmer

Object Type

The term 'miniature' refers to the watercolour medium in which this work is painted, rather than its size. Most portraits painted in miniature are sufficiently small to be mounted in lockets and could have been worn as jewels. However, many miniatures were also kept in a cabinet or in a small case to be carried and viewed as we would today a snapshot. According to the descendants of the sitter, this miniature was originally kept in a shagreen case (artificially granulated leather) lined with blue velvet.

People

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Sir William Palmer of Warden, Bedfordshire, was knighted 18 April 1641, presumably for military service. The following year saw the outbreak of Civil War, ending with the execution of the King in 1649. Palmer seems to have lived quietly through the Interregnum, although, like many men at this time, he is painted wearing his armour. He married Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Bramston of Maldon, Essex, and was buried on 7 March 1682.

Subject Depicted

This miniature epitomises Cooper's skill at capturing character. Cooper does not smooth the features to flatter. Instead the sitter's face is shown almost in profile and raked by strong light, so that deep shadows emphasise each curve and crease. Cooper's approach is very different from that of the outstanding miniature painter Nicholas Hilliard (1547-1619), who followed his patron Elizabeth I's command to 'shadow not'. Here the sitter's craggy, rugged features are subjected to close scrutiny.