Treasured with even greater reverence is the old time miniature. There was no production of this form of art in the Colonial days, but its practice developed after the Revolution, and had its chief exponent in Malbone, who, though living but from 1777 to 1807, is to this day one of the very best artists of the portrait in little. Excellent draftsmanship as well as good coloring gave his work a structural firmness unusual even in Cosway’s productions. His best known picture was an imaginative composition entitled “The Hours,” which is now in the Athenæum at Providence, R. I. Through his friendship with Allston, Malbone accompanied him to Charleston in 1800, and there painted miniatures of prominent South Carolinians, including Mrs. Ralph Izard, the beautiful Alice Delancey, who had been previously pictured by both Copley and Gainsborough. Other beautiful women he painted were Rachel and Rebecca Gratz of Philadelphia, the latter being the inspiration for Rebecca in Sir Walter Scott’s “Ivanhoe.” Allston wrote of Malbone, “He had the happy talent of elevating the character without impairing the likeness. This was remarkable in his male heads, and no woman ever lost beauty under his hand.” In Charleston at that time was Charles Fraser, a miniaturist of much ability, whose work is now sought by collectors. As the nineteenth century progressed the portrait gradually lost its preëminence, and the landscape, the story telling picture subject, and later the composition painted for its own sake became the chief expressions of the American artist. [Illustration: JOHN VANDERLYN Painted by himself, Metropolitan Museum, N. Y.] [Illustration: EDWARD G. MALBONE] SUPPLEMENTARY READING ART IN AMERICA _By S. G. W. Benjamin._ 1880--Harper & Bros., New York. AMERICAN PAINTING _By Samuel Isham._ The Macmillan Co.--1910. The most complete and modern work on the subject. ARTIST LIFE _By Henry T. Tuckerman._ D. Appleton & Co.--1847. Not so much biographical as laudatory estimates. PORTRAITS OF WASHINGTON _By Elizabeth Bryant Johnston._ A most complete work of reference. HEIRLOOMS IN MINIATURES _By Anne Hollingsworth Wharton._ J. B. Lippincott Company.--1898. The standard work on the subject of American Miniature Art. LIFE OF BENJAMIN WEST _By John Galt._ Published shortly after the death of the artist and long out of print. THE DOMESTIC AND ARTISTIC LIFE OF JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY, R. A. _By M. B. Amory._ Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston--1882. The standard work on Copley. Difficult to procure. LIFE AND WORKS OF GILBERT STUART _By George C. Mason._ Charles Scribner’s Sons--1879. An elaborate work now out of print. LIFE AND LETTERS OF WASHINGTON ALLSTON _By Jared B. Flagg._ Charles Scribner’s Sons--1902. Interesting from a literary standpoint. LIFE PORTRAITS OF GEORGE WASHINGTON _By Charles Henry Hart._