{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1809920"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1809920/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PK4895/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PK4895/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PK4895","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PK4896","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1809920/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1809920","accessionNumber":"E.994-2025","objectType":"miniatures (paintings)","titles":[{"title":"An Unknown Man","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This portrait miniature depicts a man wearing a fashionable coat and fine shirting. He is confidently portrayed, with sharp brushwork emphasising his smart appearance. His identity has yet to be recovered, but the miniature may have come from the Caribbean, where portrait miniatures became popular in the eighteenth century. These small, portable images offered a discreet way to preserve and present one’s likeness or share it with someone special. The heart-shaped gold pin on his cravat suggests that this miniature may have been an intimate keepsake for a loved one. As such, the portrait is an important expression of someone’s personhood, and a counterpoint to the many derogatory images of people of colour that also circulated widely around 1800.","physicalDescription":"Portrait of a man in blue coat and white shirting against a grey background in a metal locket.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"watercolour","id":"AAT15045"},{"text":"ivory","id":"AAT11857"},{"text":"","id":""}],"techniques":[{"text":"watercolour painting","id":"THES250889"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Watercolour on ivory","categories":[{"text":"Miniatures","id":"THES269968"},{"text":"Caribbean","id":"THES286921"},{"text":"Portraits","id":"THES48906"},{"text":"Colonialism and empire","id":"THES253004"}],"styles":[{"text":"British Colonial","id":"AAT192167"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2025PK4895","2025PK4896"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"90A","id":"THES49164"},"free":"","case":"CA010","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"miniatures (paintings)","id":"AAT33936"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Caribbean Sea","id":"THES385515"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1800","earliest":"1795-01-01","latest":"1804-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased with funds from the Murray Legacy Fund","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"60","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"17/09/2025","earliest":"2025-09-17","latest":"2025-09-17"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"50","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"17/09/2025","earliest":"2025-09-17","latest":"2025-09-17"},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"From a private collection of British portrait miniatures, purchased at Cheffins Auctions in September 2025.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Portrait Miniature, Unknown Man, possibly from the Caribbean, artist unknown, ca. 1800, watercolour on ivory","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Damiët Schneeweisz, Rosalind McKever, and Adriana Concin. <i>The Portrait Miniature: A New History</i>. London: Thames & Hudson and the V&A, 2026.","id":"AUTH411474"},"details":"","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["E.994-2025"],"accessionNumberNum":"994","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":2025,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-10-01","recordCreationDate":"2025-09-17","availableToBook":false}}