Media & Past Events
MEDIA COVERAGE FOR HILLIARD DISCOVERY
In the April 2024 issue of The Burlington Magazine, an important miniature by Nicholas Hilliard (c.1547-1619) was published for the first time in an article by Elizabeth Goldring and Emma Rutherford, having just emerged from a private collection. The discovery and the intriguing story behind the portrait’s commission, have since featured in The Times newspaper (27 May 2024), BBC News online (5 June 2024), and Not Just the Tudors podcast (6 June 2024).
ARTICLE
Antiques Trade Gazette, 11 May 2024, Issue 2642
Miniatures in May, The Limner Company’s online exhibition and Instagram Live series in collaboration with Period Portraits, was featured in trade Antiques Trades Gazette news. The article highlight’s The Limner’s Company’s rare work by Wenceslas Hollar (1607-77), one of only 2 known miniatures by the artist. READ ONLINE HERE
ARTICLE
Country Life, 31 January 2024
Historian and art critic, Huon Mallalieu featured Emma Rutherford and The Limner Company in an article titled, ‘Miniature heroes: The tiny portraits that delight, amuse, and have changed the course of English history’. The article was included in the print magazine, and is also available to read online here.
TALK
Understanding British Portraits Annual Seminar - The National Portrait Gallery, London, 24 October 2023
Emma will be speaking at annual seminar of the Understanding British Portraits professional network. Emma, together with Ellie Smith, will present a paper on the exhibition they co-curated at Philip Mould & Co. in 2022, ‘Without Hands: The Art of Sarah Biffin’. MORE INFORMATION
TALK
‘Celebrating Miss Biffin: A conversation with Alison Lapper’ - The Holburne Museum, Bath, 23 November 2023
Emma joins art historian Ellie Smith in conversation with artist Alison Lapper who will share her experience as a disabled woman artist 150 after miniaturist Sarah Biffin (1784-1850). This talk is held in conjunction with The Holburne Museum's Sarah Biffin exhibition. MORE INFORMATION
EXHIBITION
Sarah Biffin - The Holburne Museum, Bath, 29 September 2023 – 14 January 2024
Sarah Biffin’s (or Biffen) (1784-1850) remarkable work and story had been largely overlooked by historians until the 2022 exhibition at Philip Mould & Co., curated by Emma and and Ellie Smith. Following this, The Holburne Museum, Bath are to hold the first major museum exhibition to examine Biffin's life and work. The Holburne presents an incisive and comprehensive picture of Biffin with a discussion of her work within the context of her life and times. It will include portraits, still lifes and ephemera relating to her career. MORE INFORMATION
TELEVISION
Sky Arts, 18 July 2023
Emma took part in the second episode of the new Sky Arts TV series, ‘Stories from the National Portrait Gallery’. WATCH NOW
ARTICLE
Antiques Trade Gazette, Issue 2597 - 17 June 2023
In June 2023, Emma launched The Limner Company - a group of specialists researching, conserving and selling portrait miniatures. READ ONLINE
TALK
Portrait Miniatures with Emma Rutherford - Compton Verney, 21 March 2023
For this in-person talk at Compton Verney, Emma to discussed the symbolism and significance of miniatures, both personal and political. MORE INFORMATION
TELEVISION
The People’s Piazza: A History of Covent Garden - BBC Two, 13 November 2022
Emma discussed the seventeenth-century miniaturist and Covent Garden resident, Richard Gibson (1615-1690). WATCH NOW
ARTICLE
Antiques Trade Gazette, Issue 2567 - 12 November 2022
Emma featured in an article on the portrait miniatures market. READ ONLINE
PODCAST
Past Matters Podcast, 10 November 2022
Emma spoke to host Ploy Radford about the life and work of miniaturist Sarah Biffin (1784-1850). LISTEN NOW
RADIO
BBC Radio 4, 31 October 2022
Emma and artist Alison Lapper join Front Row to talk about the life and work of miniaturist Sarah Biffin (1784-1850). LISTEN NOW
PRESS COVERAGE FOR SARAH BIFFIN EXHIBITION
The exhibition Emma co-curated at Philip Mould & Co. on the life and work of Sarah Biffin (1784-1850) was covered widely in the press. The exhibition recevied 5 stars in The Telegraph and was also featured in The Times, FT How to Spend It, The Guardian, BBC Radio 4 (see above), Homes & Antiques magazine (and online) and The Art Newspaper.
ARTICLE
Homes & Antiques Magazine, May 2022
Emma was interviewed for an article on portrait miniatures, ‘Small Pleasures’, in the May issue of Homes & Antiques magazine.
PODCAST
The Thing About Austen, Episode 29, 24 February 2022
Emma joined the podcast to discuss the role of portrait miniatures in Jane Austen’s world, and a miniature recently sold by Philip Mould & Co. to the Jane Austen’s House Museum. LISTEN / DOWNLOAD NOW
ONLINE TALK
The Tudor Travel Guide, 23-24 October 2021
Emma spoke at the virtual summit, ‘Power to Peasantry: The Art Of Being A Woman In Tudor England’.
ONLINE TALK
Jane Austen’s House Museum on YouTube, 10 March 2021
In this interview, Emma spoke about miniatures in the time of Jane Austen. WATCH HERE
ARTICLE
How to Spend It, Financial Times Magazine, 5 February 2021
Emma spoke to Francesca Gavin about the enduring interest in portrait miniatures. READ ARTICLE
PRESS COVERAGE FOR HENRI III PORTRAIT DISCOVERY
In 2020 Emma and the team at Philip Mould & Co. discovered a signed portrait miniature of French King Henri III (1551–89) by Jean Decourt (c.1530-1585). This exceptional discovery was covered in The Telegraph, Artnet, The Independent and Smithsonian Magazine.
PODCAST
Talking Tudors, 19 October 2020
Natalie Grueninger interviewed Emma about Tudor portrait miniatures. LISTEN / DOWNLOAD NOW
PODCAST
The Tudor Travel Guide, 18 July 2020
Emma talks to Sarah Morris about the diplomatic and deeply romantic use of these tiny, but exquisite, objects; the techniques used to create them and the refined world of the Tudor miniaturist. How did one miniature change the course of English history, while another reveals the racy side of the Elizabethan court? LISTEN / DOWNLOAD NOW Read the illustrated blog which accompanies the podcast HERE.
ONLINE TALK
Philip Mould & Co.’s online selling exhibition at Masterpiece Fair 2020 (24 June - 8 July).
Portrait miniatures were highly prized in Elizabethan and Jacobean culture and the most brilliant exponents of this art form were Nicholas Hilliard (1547-1619), his pupil Isaac Oliver (c.1565-1617) and Isaac’s son, Peter Oliver (1594-1648). In this talk, titled, ‘Masters in Miniature: Hilliard and Oliver’, Emma discussed the techniques, uses and historical context of these small but mighty portraits. WATCH NOW
ARTICLE
Jane Austen’s House Museum, April 2020
Emma wrote an article on the portrait of Mary Pearson, c.1798 by William Wood for the Jane Austen’s House Museum following their acquisition of the miniature. The article for their news page has now expired but the miniature is available to view online here.
TELEVISION
Dwarves in Art: A New Perspective - BBC 4, 23 April 2020
Emma discussed the work of 17th-century miniaturist, Richard Gibson (1615-1690) (known as ‘Dwarf Gibson’ in his circle) with Richard Butchins. WATCH NOW
PRESS COVEREAGE FOR ZAGA CHRIST PORTRAIT
In 2019, Emma and the team at Philip Mould & Co. unearthed the earliest European portrait miniature of the black sitter: a portrait of Zaga Christ (c.1608-1638) by Giovanna Garzoni (1600-1670). The discovery and the miniature’s subsequent acquisitions by the Allen Art Memorial Museum were featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Art Herstory and Art Daily. In 2020, the miniature was included in the Victoria & Albert Museum’s exhibition Renaissance Watercolours, as well as ‘The Greatness of the Universe' in the art of Giovanna Garzoni at the Palazzo Pitti.
PODCAST
Philip Mould & Co., 22 November 2018
‘The Lost Portrait’ is a three-part podcast series tracing the origins of a beguiling portrait of Charles Dickens (1812-1870) shown aged 31 as an emerging literary star in the midst of writing his masterwork, A Christmas Carol. The portrait, painted by the professional artist and social campaigner Margaret Gillies, had been lost for over 150 years before being unearthed by Emma and the team at Philip Mould & Co. in 2018. LISTEN NOW
PRESS COVERAGE FOR CHARLES DICKENS PORTRAIT DISCOVERY
In 2017, Emma uncovered a portrait miniature of Charles Dickens (1812-1870) by Margaret Gillies (1803-1887), which had been thought lost for over 130 years. Press coverage included articles in The Guardian, The Times, CNN, The Telegraph, the Evening Standard and The Daily Mail.
ARTICLE
Londnr Magazine, 9 November 2015
Emma was interviewed by Nina-Sophia Miralles. READ ARTICLE
ARTICLE
FT How to Spend It, 27 May 2014
Emma and portrait miniatures collector, Robert Harman were interviewed by Claire Wrathall. READ ARTICLE