Artwork
Miniature of Mabel Morrison

Miniature of Mabel Morrison is a copper painting by the Realist artist Charles Lepec. It dates from 1866 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The miniature portrays Mabel Morrison, the named sitter recorded in the work's cataloguing.
The miniature portrays Mabel Morrison, the named sitter recorded in the work's cataloguing. Executed by Charles Lepec in 1866, the portrait belongs to the genre of miniature portraiture, a tradition in which likenesses of named individuals were produced as intimate keepsakes. The medium of vitreous enamel on copper, as documented in the collection record, was particularly associated with refined personal portraiture of the period, lending the image a jewel-like permanence suited to commemorating a specific person.
As a portrait, the work functions as a visual record of Morrison rather than as an allegorical or symbolic composition, with its meaning centered on the identification and commemoration of the sitter.
Technique & Style
The Miniature of Mabel Morrison is executed in vitreous enamel on a copper support, a technique characteristic of nineteenth-century portrait miniatures. The work is classified as a painting and falls within the miniature portrait genre. Charles Lepec's handling of the enamel medium allows for finely detailed rendering suited to the small scale of the format. The piece is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
History & Provenance
The enamel miniature of Mabel Morrison by Charles Lepec (1866) is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1975.1.969.
Overview
Charles Lepec completed the Miniature of Mabel Morrison in 1866. This small-scale portrait, rendered in paint on a copper support, captures its subject with delicate precision. The artwork is presently housed within the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, representing a specific form of portraiture popular during the period.
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