Edward Miles Auction Prices and Value Guide

Edward Miles auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 18,847 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Edward Miles auction prices: quick answer

Edward Miles auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.

Artist
Edward Miles
Source records
18,847
Market update
2026-02-06

Artist context

About Edward Miles

Edward Miles (1752–1828) was an English miniature painter and court artist whose career spanned England, Russia, and the United States. Born in Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, he moved to London around 1771 and exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts from 1775 to 1797. His reputation for finely rendered portrait miniatures led to his appointment as miniature painter to Queen Charlotte in 1794. In 1797 Miles relocated to Saint Petersburg, where he served as court painter to Tsars Paul I and Alexander I until approximately 1806. After leaving Russia he emigrated to Philadelphia in 1807 and continued painting portrait miniatures for American patrons until his death in 1828. Miles also taught the American portraitist James Reid Lambdin. His surviving miniatures, typically executed in watercolour on ivory, are held in British, Russian, and American collections.

Late-18th-century English miniature painting traditionWatercolour on ivory miniatureEnamel miniatureDrawingPortrait miniaturesRoyal and aristocratic sitters

Common works and media

Portrait miniatures in watercolour on ivory, typically oval format and housed in lockets or framed cases. Known sitters include members of the British royal family, figures of the Russian imperial court, and prominent Philadelphia citizens. Miles also produced small-scale portrait drawings. His works from the London period (1775–1797) are the most frequently encountered at auction, followed by Philadelphia-period miniatures; Russian court works are comparatively scarce.

Market and appraisal context

The Appraisily auction index records 174 lots attributed to the keyword 'Edward Miles' across 2015–2023, with 101 carrying a realized price. The headline price distribution spans €5 to €8,400 with a median of €200 and a 75th percentile of €680. However, manual review of the 24 most recent lots reveals significant attribution noise: the majority are unrelated items (Chinese porcelain, furniture, Chanel handbags, Disney memorabilia, jewelry) that share the keyword match rather than being confirmed works by the miniature painter Edward Miles (1752–1828). Only one lot in the recent sample is explicitly catalogued as a work by Edward Miles: a watercolour-on-ivory miniature portrait of a lady (5 × 3.75 cm) that sold at Gorringes (UK) in September 2022 for £400. The true market for attributed Edward Miles miniatures is considerably thinner than the raw lot count suggests. Named auction houses appearing in the broader dataset include Ardent Auctions, Vanderkindere, DVC, Vectis Auctions, Clars Auctions, Cornette de Saint-Cyr, Historia Auctionata, Veilinghuis Van Spengen, Dawsons Auctioneers, and Richard ter Borg kunsthandel, though most of these houses' listed lots are not confirmed Edward Miles portrait miniatures. The market for Georgian portrait miniatures as a category is active but specialized, with results typically ranging from under £100 for lesser-known or damaged examples to several thousand pounds for royally connected or well-documented sitters.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • Portrait miniatures
  • Watercolour on ivory miniature
  • Enamel miniature
  • Drawing

Value drivers

  1. Medium and support: watercolour on ivory portrait miniatures are the expected market category; enamel miniatures and drawings need separate comparisons.
  2. Attribution strength: signature, inscription, sitter tradition, provenance, and specialist miniature scholarship matter because many Georgian miniatures are unsigned.
  3. Sitter identity and status: royal, Russian court, or documented Philadelphia patrons can materially change value.
  4. Career phase: London Royal Academy years, Saint Petersburg court work, and Philadelphia-period miniatures should not be valued as interchangeable groups.
  5. Condition: ivory cracking, warping, paint loss, fading, glass replacement, and frame alterations can reduce salability.
  6. Format and presentation: oval dimensions, locket or case quality, original frames, and reverse inscriptions affect comparability.

Appraisal caveats

  • No published catalogue raisonné was identified for Edward Miles; attribution relies on stylistic comparison and provenance documentation.
  • Getty ULAN was unavailable at research time (503 error); ULAN record 500012458 is referenced via VIAF cross-links but could not be independently verified.
  • Market data specific to Miles is thin, and broad auction-index records should be treated as discovery leads rather than clean comparable sales.
  • The live Appraisily keyword index contains many unrelated lots, so specialist review is required before using any result as an Edward Miles comparable.

Evidence

Sources for artist context

This source-grounded artist context passed Appraisily's promotion threshold: high confidence, strong sources.

Source-grounded artist Markdown

Data basis

This page is built from Appraisily's public auction market index. Private transactions, incomplete sale feeds, and attribution changes may not be fully represented.

LLM-readable Markdown summary for Edward Miles

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Edward Miles worth?

Comparable public auction sales are the best starting point, but final value depends on the specific artwork, condition, size, medium, provenance, and attribution confidence.

Can Appraisily value my Edward Miles artwork?

Yes. Appraisily can review photos, dimensions, signatures, condition, provenance, and comparable market data to prepare a current valuation.