This ornamental hanger is backed by a sturdy stem with screw-end.  It features the tr...

This ornamental hanger is backed by a sturdy stem with screw-end.  It features the transfer-printed portrait of a fashionable lady on plain white enamel. Her feathered, helmit-like chapeau would seem to indicate a contemporary rather than historical figure--an affectation from the more exotic edge of the Empire style. Finely engraved lines and stippling capture her trendy frizzed hair and suggest the rosiness of her rouged cheeks.

Pieces such as this remind us that transfer printing was utilized on enamels early in the...

Pieces such as this remind us that transfer printing was utilized on enamels early in the 1750's, setting an example for subsequent over-glaze printing on ceramics. The stippling featured in this engraving would suggest a vintage after the turn of the 19th century.

Given the detailed "fashion statement" these enamel portraits present, perhaps they were the inspirational adornment of some boudoir mirror. They would still fulfill the function well.