It’s not quite right, is it? Too fancy, too may ruffles, though the sleeves aren’t dissimilar. Our girl’s look is much more casual though. I think we should be looking at the 19th not the 18th century. Back to the drawing board!

I have started my search to try to pin down the century our girl lived in. So where better to look than the internet.  I found a website called historyofeuropeanfashion.wordpress.com produced by an author called abigailwestover94. She describes a shift in fashion in the 18th Century driven by the Enlightenment and of course the wild excesses of the French court with characters like Madame Pompadour and Marie Antoinette. The Rococo style was “light and happy” with pastel colours. The chemise a la reine was a loose white gown with no corset and a colourful silk sash around the waist.

So where to start? The most obvious ones have to be:

When did she live? Where did she live?

They  seem as good a place as any.  We might be able to date her by dress and fashion unless of course she dressed up specially for the portrait.

As for where, well we have two main possibilities. The miniature might have been an heirloom from my Grandmother in Czechoslovakia. Alternatively she might be one of a collection of miniatures my father picked up when he was stationed in Germany after the War. People were desperate for cigarettes and on several occasions, he swapped a carton of cigarettes for a miniature!

let’s take it from there then.

Well here goes! A new adventure.

A little while ago my Mum passed away. I’ve found it extraordinarily hard to come to terms with her loss. The grief has taken me quite by surprise. She had a good life and a long one so her death came naturally but I miss her, our long chats on the phone and her endless support and love.

One of the hardest parts of coming to terms with her death has been the prospect of breaking up her beautiful home. My brothers and sisters have all been sensitive and sweet about it and after putting it off for as long as we could, we made our first attempt at it last week. We chose a number each to determine order and then went round the table in turn, selecting items from her and my father’s treasures for ourselves and our children.

When we came to the large collection of miniatures that my parents had accumulated over the years, my eldest brother didn’t want any – he likes modern! The others went for groups of three or four but only two caught my fancy. One was very small, more like a necklace than a miniature and this my eldest sister chose. The other was a portrait of the prettiest thing I have ever seen.

I brought her home and I have found myself going back to look at her in wonder. I can’t help wanting to find out all about her, who she was, where she lived and how she ended up on my parents’ wall.

So that’s it. This blog is my quest to find out all about the beautiful girl.

Here she is and off we go!