P. O. Jenkins, Quincy, IL 
Miniature Portrait of Isaac V. W. Dutcher, 1841 
watercolor on ivory in engraved gold case height, 2 1/4 by 1 3/4 inches 
Illinois State Museum collection,
Illinois State Museum Society purchase

A miniature is a tiny portrait, painted on card or ivory, kept in a small frame or case that could be used as jewelry or carried. A family or couple could be separated when a girl or boy went away to school, when a husband and father went into the army during a war, or when a woman married and moved away. A miniature portrait painting was like today's snapshot. A person could carry an image of a loved one in his or her pocket or wear it like jewelry. This miniature's case has a window through which you can see a small oval cloth woven from hair. 

What skills would a self-trained artist need to paint a miniature? 

P.O. Jenkins

Inscribed on the back, "Isaac V.W. Dutcher/ Taken Aug. 1841/ Aged 23 years/ P.O. Jenkins Artist/ Quincy, Illinois." This is the earliest painting known to be by Jenkins, who worked in Illinois and Kentucky. Several easel portraits with his signature are also known to exist. 

Isaac van wert Dutcher

Isaac V.W. Dutcher (1817 - ) Isaac van wert Dutcher was born in Irvington, Westchester County, New York to a military family. He was the fourth son and seventh child of Captain William Asher Dutcher and Anna VanWeert. Family records claim that he moved to St. Louis, Missouri in the 1830s.