Antiques & Collecting: Eye miniatures

Popular fiction inspires fashions in real life. The period shows and royal romances on television today have renewed interest in antiques among their fans.

One piece that has captured attention is the eye miniature on a pendant worn by a character on the television show “Bridgerton,” a romance set in Regency England, but with modern influences.

An eye miniature is a close-up of a single eye painted on ivory and set behind glass or crystal in a decorated frame. They were worn as pendants or pins. An eye miniature set in a goldtone frame as a pin sold at Brunk Auctions for $704.

These miniatures are sometimes known as “lover’s eyes,” a romantic name coined by a 20th-century antiques dealer.

They are said to have originated in the 1870s, when Prince George of Wales — who would later serve as Prince Regent for his father, King George III, giving the Regency period its name — fell in love with Maria Anne Fitzherbert.

They could not marry because he was Protestant and she was Catholic. To keep their relationship secret, they exchanged miniature paintings of their eyes set in jeweled frames.

This meant they could still look into each other’s eyes when they were apart, and it was unlikely that anyone else could tell whose eyes they were. The prince wore his under his lapel.

Eye miniatures became fashionable gifts between lovers. They were also worn as mourning jewelry in remembrance of loved ones.

When were Tinkertoy construction sets first made?

Tinkertoys were invented by Charles Pajeau, a stonemason and cemetery monument maker. He developed a construction set of wooden rods and discs. It was first displayed at the American Toy Fair in 1913.

Pajeau and Robert Petit, a grain trader at the Chicago Board of Trade, established The Toy Tinkers company in Evanston, Illinois, in 1914. Sets with an electric motor were first sold in 1919.

The name of the company was changed to Toy Tinkers, Inc. in 1924. Later it became Tinkertoy, Inc.

The company was sold several times beginning in 1952. It became part of Hasbro Inc. in 1986. Sets with plastic pieces were made beginning in 1992.

Wooden sets were reintroduced in 2000. Tinkertoys have also been made by Basic Fun! since 2018.

Tip: Don’t let metal jewelry touch chlorine bleach. It may pit or discolor.

Current Prices

Bohemian glass, bud vase, slender cornucopia shape, cranberry, heavy enamel and gold flowers in fan shaped medallions, clear applied decorated foot, 7 3/4 x 3 1/4 inches, $90.

Lamp, chandelier, nine-light, two tiers, brass fixtures, glass Ice Cube shades with internal bubbles, Gaetano Sciolari for Lightolier, 24 x 18 inches, $315.

Candy container, child on sled, Heubach bisque head and hands, red and white polka dot snowsuit and hat, red scarf with pompoms, wooden sled, 8 x 7 1/2 inches, $925.

Toy, Popeye spinning Olive Oyl, Popeye’s arms spin, Olive Oyl sits on chair and rotates balancing on Popeye’s nose, lithographed tin, key wind, Linemar, 9 inches, $1,600.