The Quiet Precision of the Miniature In the small, intimate spaces of eighteenth-century portraiture, Thomas Day found his place. Born in Devonshire around 1732, his hands were trained to work on a scale that requires a steady breath and a focused eye. He moved to London to study under Ozias Humphry and Daniel Dodd, learning the delicate mechanics of capturing a likeness on surfaces that could barely hold a heavy brushstroke. His work often moved between the tiny, polished surfaces of ivory and the softer textures of pastels and charcoal. There is a specific way he handled watercolor on ivo…