One of my very favorite Brimfield finds--how fabulous is she?!!! But what makes this especially special is that the watercolor portrait miniature (c. 1830s I believe, and I'd guess French) and was beloved enough for someone to build a whole box around her, investing that box with much love and care. (I presume the portrait lost its original  frame somewhere along the way and this box was made later, and likely later still lined with gold satin.)

Portraits of women baring of one breast seem to have become a thing in the mid 18th century and continued well into the 19th, typically understood as, not surprisingly, symbolizing youth, availability, fecundity, etc. I just love everything about this portrait (those huge blue eyes, that little red mouth--no upper lip that I can see, all those ringlets framing her rather bird-like head, and then the kind of awkward matter-of-factness of her exposure)--it all feels very human, and I find her quite empathetic. And then the lovely but unfussy, honestly made box makes her feel all the more so--perhaps a very sincere gift for a sexy sweetheart, or maybe made by a lonely man longing for one! To my sensibilities a really wonderful hybrid that brings out the best in this portrait. 

5 5/8" x 5" x 2 5/8" t. Portrait itself, under glass, measures 2 3/4" x 2 3/8". All in excellent condition.