French School
A Noblewoman, wearing lace-trimmed pink dress with green ribbon, a matching green ribbon in her upswept hair, c. 1770
Watercolour on ivory
Oval, 1 in. (26 mm) high
Philip Mould & Co.
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com Although the artist of this tiny miniature is undocumented, the attention to detail shown suggests an artist of some talent....
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com
Although the artist of this tiny miniature is undocumented, the attention to detail shown suggests an artist of some talent. The sitter’s expression, with her half-smile, and the focus on such elements as the raised mole on her right cheek infers that the lady was known to the artist. Miniatures of this size may have originally been worn as a ring or within a jewelled bracelet on the wrist. The commission may have been for the sitter’s mother, sister or close friend as this size of portrait was rarely worn by a man.
The lavish costume, with its complementing pink and green hues, mirrors the fashionable wardrobe of Marie Antoinette (who apparently ordered over 300 dresses every year). Married in 1770 to Louis Auguste de Bourbon, teenage heir to the throne of France, Marie Antoinette had considerable influence on the fashions worn by young women of the day. She was particularly fond of the colour pink in her youth, wearing this colour in almost all of her early portraits, including the glorious salmon pink gown, which she wears in a chalk portrait by Jean-Etienne Liotard aged just seven. Shortly before her marriage, around the date of the present portrait miniature, she was painted in a lace-trimmed pink gown by Joseph Ducreux. Marie Antoinette’s powerful influence also extended to portrait miniatures, which she commissioned in large numbers to gift to friends and visiting diplomats.
Although the artist of this tiny miniature is undocumented, the attention to detail shown suggests an artist of some talent. The sitter’s expression, with her half-smile, and the focus on such elements as the raised mole on her right cheek infers that the lady was known to the artist. Miniatures of this size may have originally been worn as a ring or within a jewelled bracelet on the wrist. The commission may have been for the sitter’s mother, sister or close friend as this size of portrait was rarely worn by a man.
The lavish costume, with its complementing pink and green hues, mirrors the fashionable wardrobe of Marie Antoinette (who apparently ordered over 300 dresses every year). Married in 1770 to Louis Auguste de Bourbon, teenage heir to the throne of France, Marie Antoinette had considerable influence on the fashions worn by young women of the day. She was particularly fond of the colour pink in her youth, wearing this colour in almost all of her early portraits, including the glorious salmon pink gown, which she wears in a chalk portrait by Jean-Etienne Liotard aged just seven. Shortly before her marriage, around the date of the present portrait miniature, she was painted in a lace-trimmed pink gown by Joseph Ducreux. Marie Antoinette’s powerful influence also extended to portrait miniatures, which she commissioned in large numbers to gift to friends and visiting diplomats.
Provenance
Private Collection, UK.