Marketplace
The Limner Company : Portrait Miniature
About the Gallery
The Limner Company was established in 2023 by leading portrait miniatures consultant Emma Rutherford. We are a group of specialists who work together researching and selling antique portrait miniatures.
We hope to bring portrait miniatures to a wider audience with our social media and e-newsletter, sharing the latest research and exhibitions, and a carefully curated selection of original works for sale.
We are based in London, UK, and we work with clients both nationwide and internationally.
Our expertise also includes conservation and framing.
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-Portrait of Gentleman, possibly a member of the Ernle family, wearing black doublet and white lace collar drawn w_T638670356280866856.JPG?width=500&height=500&mode=pad&scale=both&qlt=90)
, wearing blue general’s uniform and House of W_T638670356278496859.jpg?width=500&height=500&mode=pad&scale=both&qlt=90)
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MEET THE GALLERIST
Emma Rutherford
Emma Rutherford is a freelance art historian specialising in portrait miniatures and silhouettes. Her clients include Philip Mould & Co., the National Portrait Gallery, National Trust and a number of major institutions nationwide.
Emma has close working relationships with museum and gallery curators, as well as conservators and restorers. She has conducted many significant private and public valuations and private treaty sales. She has also made several television appearances and advises the Antiques Roadshow.
Emma began her career working in the Victoria and Albert Museum whilst completing an MA in Victorian Art and Architecture. She set up the Portrait Miniatures Department at Phillip's Auctioneers and after the amalgamation of Phillips and Bonhams she became Departmental Director. During her time in the auction world, Emma sourced and handled the Albion Collection.
From 2007 to December 2022, Emma ran a portrait miniatures consultancy at Philip Mould & Co., London. Emma curated and co-curated many exhibitions of portrait miniatures at the gallery, most recently “Without Hands”; The Art of Sarah Biffin (1 November - 21 December 2022). Other exhibitions with Philip Mould & Co. include Love’s Labour’s Found (2021), Jewel in the Hand; Early Portrait Miniatures from Private and Noble Collections (2019), Charles Dickens, The Lost Portrait (2018/19), John Smart; A Genius Magnified (2014), Warts and All; The Portrait Miniatures of Samuel Cooper (2013) and Secret Faces (2008).
Emma's significant discoveries include a cabinet portrait of Arbella Stuart by Nicholas Hilliard, signed portrait of King of France Henri III by Jean Decourt in 2020; the earliest known European portrait miniature of a black sitter, a portrait of Prince Zaga Christ by Giovanni Garzoni in 2019, now at the Allen Memorial Art Museum; and a lost portrait miniature of Charles Dickens in 2017, now at the Charles Dickens Museum.
In 2023, Emma established The Limner Company. She hopes to bring portrait miniatures to a wider audience, sharing the latest research and exhibitions, and a carefully curated selection of original works for sale.
Emma is a member of the specialist British Art Network and a trustee for The Drug of Art charity.