Jean Petitot the Elder
A Noblewoman, traditionally called Margaret Lucas Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623-1673), wearing cream dress with pearls at her neck and in her curled brown hair, c. 1640-45
Enamel on gold
Circular, 0.78in. (20mm) diam.
Philip Mould & Co.
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com Jean Petitot the elder can be described as one of the pioneers of portrait enamellers, introducing a high level of...
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com
Jean Petitot the elder can be described as one of the pioneers of portrait enamellers, introducing a high level of detail and new range of subtle colours not previously employed in this medium. Petitot was much admired at the English Court, where he introduced the artform to Charles I who employed him to paint members of his own family. From the sitter’s costume, the dating of the present portrait places it during a time of transition in the artist’s life, as he fled to France from England probably around 1643/44 – certainly some time prior to the execution of the King in 1649.
Many portraits dating from the early 1640s, when Petitot appears to be engaged as court painter in enamel to Louis XIV, show ladies dressed as in the present portrait – wearing large pearls at their neck, a low-cut dress and hair tightly curled around the face. This fashion can be seen in Petitot’s portrait of Claire Clémence de Maillé-Brézé, Princess de Condé [location unknown], dating to circa 1641, as well as in his portraits of English sitters, for example, his portrait of Mary Stuart [Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam] painted after he left the country around 1650. The composition of the portrait perhaps suggests closer links to his French sitter’s than those of English court circles, but it is impossible to be definitive on this point. If the sitter is indeed Margaret Cavendish, she travelled with Henrietta Maria as her maid of honour when she went into exile in France (1644) and may have met with Petitot prior to her marriage, in 1645, to William Cavendish, later 1st Duke of Newcastle. As she also met her future husband at the exiled court, and he may have commissioned this portrait from Petitot, also freshly arrived from England.
The iconography of Margaret Cavendish is thin and largely comprised of prints and etchings. It is therefore difficult to ascertain her certain appearance and colouring. A double portrait attributed to Gonzales Coques in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin is said to show the couple circa 1650 and portrays Margaret as blonde and dark-eyed – not with brown hair and blue eyes as in the present enamel – but this is far from conclusive evidence. The conventional ideal of beauty during this period, combined with the jewel-like size of this enamel, makes the identification of specific facial characteristics even more of a challenge.
Petitot’s career spanned seven decades and his output was prolific (and likely aided by a talented team of apprentices). He worked with great success in Paris until the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) when, as a devout Protestant, he fled to Geneva where he eventually died in 1691.
Jean Petitot the elder can be described as one of the pioneers of portrait enamellers, introducing a high level of detail and new range of subtle colours not previously employed in this medium. Petitot was much admired at the English Court, where he introduced the artform to Charles I who employed him to paint members of his own family. From the sitter’s costume, the dating of the present portrait places it during a time of transition in the artist’s life, as he fled to France from England probably around 1643/44 – certainly some time prior to the execution of the King in 1649.
Many portraits dating from the early 1640s, when Petitot appears to be engaged as court painter in enamel to Louis XIV, show ladies dressed as in the present portrait – wearing large pearls at their neck, a low-cut dress and hair tightly curled around the face. This fashion can be seen in Petitot’s portrait of Claire Clémence de Maillé-Brézé, Princess de Condé [location unknown], dating to circa 1641, as well as in his portraits of English sitters, for example, his portrait of Mary Stuart [Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam] painted after he left the country around 1650. The composition of the portrait perhaps suggests closer links to his French sitter’s than those of English court circles, but it is impossible to be definitive on this point. If the sitter is indeed Margaret Cavendish, she travelled with Henrietta Maria as her maid of honour when she went into exile in France (1644) and may have met with Petitot prior to her marriage, in 1645, to William Cavendish, later 1st Duke of Newcastle. As she also met her future husband at the exiled court, and he may have commissioned this portrait from Petitot, also freshly arrived from England.
The iconography of Margaret Cavendish is thin and largely comprised of prints and etchings. It is therefore difficult to ascertain her certain appearance and colouring. A double portrait attributed to Gonzales Coques in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin is said to show the couple circa 1650 and portrays Margaret as blonde and dark-eyed – not with brown hair and blue eyes as in the present enamel – but this is far from conclusive evidence. The conventional ideal of beauty during this period, combined with the jewel-like size of this enamel, makes the identification of specific facial characteristics even more of a challenge.
Petitot’s career spanned seven decades and his output was prolific (and likely aided by a talented team of apprentices). He worked with great success in Paris until the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) when, as a devout Protestant, he fled to Geneva where he eventually died in 1691.
Provenance
Previously with J and B Harden Antiques (as ‘believed to be Elizabeth Howard, née Lucas, second wife of William, 1st Earl, later Duke of Newcastle’) and said to have come from ‘A Cavendish Collection’;Private Collection