[PAINTED MINIATURES]. [NELSON, Lord Horatio (1758-1805), and LADY HAMILTON, Emma (1765-1815), subjects]. Pair of Oval Painted Miniatures of Nelson and His Famous Mistress. [England, ca. 1800s]. Matching pair of painted miniatures, each encased under convex glass and brass borders. Portraits are recess mounted in beautifully-etched custom-made bone frames. Miniatures sight approximately 1 ¾ x 1 ½”. Bone frames approximately 4 x 3 ½”. Each bone piece is hand-cut and mounted to the wood backing; two strips in the Lady Hamilton frame are slightly warped. Fine. Neither examined out of frame. Horatio Nelson and Lady Hamilton were popular idols in England, and their love affair was a virtual soap opera of the era. Portraits as a matched pair are extremely rare as offered here. Both Nelson and Hamilton were married to other people, but enjoyed a well-known affair - Hamilton even gave birth to Nelson’s daughter, Horatia.