Antique Miniature Bronze Tazza with Signed Portrait Miniature and Guilloché Enamel

A magnificent antique miniature bronze tazza featuring a hand-painted signed portrait miniature of an elegant lady, beautifully set at its center. Surrounding the portrait is a breathtaking display of guilloché enamel work, with intricate engine-turned patterns beneath delicate lavender, blue, and white enameling adorned with tiny painted floral accents. The richly gilded bronze rim completes this exquisite piece, which likely dates to the late 19th or early 20th century.

This jewel-like object is perfect for collectors of miniature portraiture, guilloché enamel objets d’art, or anyone wishing to add a touch of refined historic luxury to a vanity, desk, or cabinet of curiosities.

Dimensions: 3.5"D x 1"H. 
Condition: Patina on the bronze.

A Brief History of Guilloché Enamel
Guilloché enamel traces its roots to 16th-century decorative arts, but truly flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries with advances in engine-turning technology. The term guilloché comes from French, referring to the intricate, mechanically engraved patterns—often wave-like or radiating lines—cut into a metal surface using a lathe called a rose engine. Once engraved, translucent enamel was carefully applied and fired over the patterns, creating a luminous, shimmering depth that seemed to dance with light.

This technique became a signature of European luxury, most famously elevated by Peter Carl Fabergé, whose guilloché-enamelled Imperial eggs and objets de vertu captivated Russian and European aristocracy. Throughout the Belle Époque and into the early 20th century, guilloché enamel adorned everything from jewelry and vanity cases to picture frames and small tazzas like yours—embodying refinement, craftsmanship, and timeless elegance.