CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH ZINCKE (GERMAN 1683/4-1767) Portrait miniature of a Lady, wearing a low cut blue dress with white underslip, a sprig of white flowers in her long flowing brown hair, painted circa 1725 Enamel Set within the inside lid of a gilt-mounted tortoiseshell box, the cover with pique work depicting flowers and a butterfly Oval, 45mm (1 3/4in) high Exhibited: The Comerford Collection: Portrait Miniatures, The Irish Architectural Archives, Dublin, 2009 Literature: The Comerford Collection: Portrait.Miniatures, (privately published, Dublin, 2009) pp 6, 19 (# 36) Although the identity of the sitter is unknown, she was undoubtedly a lady of fashion and wealth. The presence of a butterfly on the lid must have had some symbolic meaning. A butterfly has stood to mean many things but overwhelmingly, cultural myth and lore honor the butterfly as a symbol of transformation because of its impressive process of metamorphosis. Perhaps the sitter was in the process of a significant transformation in her life such as marriage.