Circular copper plaque with micromosaic depicting two doves sipping within small geometrical contour in white, blue and red. Signed Gio Raffaelli fecit and dated 1791 at verso. Diameter 2 in. Gio Raffaelli (Rome, 1753-1836), descendant from a lineage of kilnsmen, is considered the inventor of the classic micromosaic technique: an illusion to make classic art masterpieces, monuments and mythological and religious subjects wearable as jewels or easy to carry in pocket; his plaques became expensive souvenirs for travelers on the Grand Tour. He exhibited his micromosaics for the first time in his Piazza di Spagna atelier, on the occasion of the Holy Year 1775 and his idea was so successful that between 1824 and 1830 the area between Piazza di Spagna and Piazza del Popolo counted already 68 businesses related to micromosaic. Typical is the small contour he used to adorn  his micromosaics: a chain of white tiles with blue tiles inside, between two rows of red tiles.