Although the demand for portrait miniatures waned by the mid-nineteenth century, a resurgence of interest among artists—many of them women—led them to explore the genre at the turn of the twentieth century. The miniature revival was fostered by an appreciation for the handmade in an increasingly technological world—the same cultural attitude that spurred the Arts and Crafts movement. This portrait depicts an actor who also posed as a model for artists. Closely rendered, the portrait appears at once timeless and specific to the era, drawing attention to the sitter’s dreamy gaze and period costume.

Born on Staten Island, Grace Hamilton McIntyre was a member of the American Society of Miniature Painters. She studied china painting and miniature painting in New York and accompanied her neighbors, the Farbers of the pencil manufacturing company, on a tour of Europe in the summer of 1899. Upon her return, she fulfilled miniature commissions procured through family and friends, painting from 1900 until the birth of her only child in 1917.