Investing in the mysterious face of a revolutionary icon

The tiny artwork (6cm x 5cm) was painted in watercolour on ivory. It carried a conservative estimate of between £300 and £500 (€350 to €590).

“Given who he was, the level of interest was to be expected,” says Clifford Lansberry of Gorringes.

Robert Emmet (1778-1803) is an Irish nationalist icon. He was a brilliant orator, but a misguided revolutionary.

His rebellion against British Rule in 1803 was poorly attended and quickly suppressed. Emmet was sentenced to death.

His famous speech from the dock ended with the words: “When my country takes her place among the nations of the Earth, then, and not till then, let my epitaph be written.” It was a self-fulfilling prophesy.

After his execution, Emmet’s body was spirited away from Kilmainham Gaol. His grave has never been found and his epitaph remains unwritten.

To add to the mystery, nobody knows exactly what Robert Emmet looked like. There are many likeness — all impossibly handsome — but all are based on a handful of sketches made at his trial.

There is also a death mask made by the artist James Petrie, who knew Emmet and went into Kilmainham Gaol to make the mould.

It must have been a grisly business. Emmet’s head was severed from his body after hanging and held up as an example to the crowd.

Bronze casts of the death mask sometimes come up at auction. One sold at Adam’s for €1,100 in 2014 and another for €750 at Whyte’s in 2019.

In 2020, Matt Loughrey of My Colourful Past used a three-dimensional technology called X-Oculi to create a lifelike image from the death mask.

The rendering shows Emmet’s damaged face and cropped hair, a reminder of the brutality of his execution.

The miniature sold at Gorringes was set in a gold locket frame engraved with “Robert Emmet Born 21st May 1782” above; “Executed 20th September 1803” below; and “Thomas Addis Emmet” on the back.

This is the name of Robert’s elder brother who had been a leader in the Society of United Irishmen and emigrated to America in 1804.

A later-written inscription on a piece of card behind the portrait reads: “Gold — Robert Emmett, Irish Patriot, Executed 1803, Aged only 25!”

It’s probable that the miniature was commissioned posthumously by Thomas, but there’s also been some discussion about Robert’s birth date, which is incorrect on the frame.

The miniature’s new owner, a retired museum curator living near Lewes, is going to have fun researching its history.

“If you didn’t have the inscription on the frame, you’d have to be very well informed to know who the sitter was,” says Lansberry.

“You’d look at it and say it was unusual. Many of the sitters in miniatures look self-important and full of themselves, but this looks like a natural pose.”

Miniature portraits were the forerunner of photographs, painted from life as a memento for loved ones. Historically, they’re been a popular collectible, but their standard varies.

“There are a lot of mediocre ones out there,” Lifford says. Most are painted on ivory. “Early miniatures were painted on copper and common ones were painted on wood, but ivory allows a glow to come through the paint.”

Many of the miniatures in the sale show officers in uniform, including 10 by the Irish artist Frederick Buck (1771-1840).

Buck, who worked from Cork, was on to a good thing. During the Napoleonic Wars, Cork was the main provisioning port for the Royal Navy and Buck either painted the officers when they went ashore or went aboard the ships.

His depictions of uniforms are said to be accurate and his portrait miniature of an army officer in a dark blue uniform with silver braiding and a fur collar (7cm x 5.4cm) sold for £1,100 (€1,300).

“Some collectors specialise in identifying uniforms,” Lifford says. “The real difficulty with miniatures, if they’re not named on the back, is that it’s really hard to identify the sitter. You’re lucky if you can identify the artist.”

A portrait miniature of a gentlemen (9cm x 7cm) by the Dublin-born artist George Place (c.1755-c.1805) sold for £1,600 (€1,890).

It shows a man in a blue coat with brass buttons, red collar, yellow waistcoat, white frilled shirt and tied cravat.

His hair is powdered and curled. It’s dated 1797. At this time, Place was working in London. Later that year, he moved to Lucknow in India, where he died in 1805.

​See gorringes.co.uk.