Unknown Lady
Miniaturist:
Smart, John
Silversmith:
Unknown
Mother-of-pearl and engraved silver case with a magnifying glass and a portrait miniature painted in watercolour on ivory
Mother-of-pearl and engraved silver case with a magnifying glass and a portrait miniature in watercolour on ivory under glass. Each side of the silver lorgnette-shaped case is set with an oval mother-of-pearl plaque. Beneath is a short silver handle which is engraved on each side with leaves and flowers on a striated ground. Above the plaque is a silver arch, which is also engraved with leaves and flowers on a striated ground. From this two oval silver loops are articulated; they fold beneath the mother-of-pearl plaques into the body of the case. One loop contains a magnifying glass, the other contains an oval portrait of a lady. She faces three-quarters to the right; her dark brown hair is plaited and coiled at the back of her head. She wears a low cut pale pink dress edged with lace and yellow ribbon and pearls. The background is painted blue-grey. Just above the lady's left arm the miniature is initialled and dated 'JS 1761'. On the back of the miniature is an oval mother-of-pearl plaque inlaid with a star-shaped pattern of gold piqué dots.
History note: Not known before testator
L.C.G. Clarke Bequest, 1960
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1960-12-13) by Clarke, Louis Colville Gray
18th Century, Mid
George III
19th Century
1761
CE
-
1800
CE
-
1900
CE
The miniature was painted in 1761. The case does not bear a maker's mark or any hallmarks, but was probably made in the 19th century.
Painting
composed of
watercolour
Plaques
composed of
mother-of-pearl
Case
composed of
silver
Height 1.7 cm
Length 9.2 cm
Width 1.7 cm
Miniature
composed of
ivory
Height 44 mm
Width 35 mm
Cover
composed of
glass
Watercolour : Silver case engraved and set with mother-of-pearl plaques, the two articulated arms contain a watercolour painted on ivory and a magnifying glass
Accession number: M.94-1961
Primary reference Number: 18208
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Paintings, Drawings and Prints
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Unknown Lady" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/18208 Accessed: 2024-11-16 18:43:11
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/18208
|title=Unknown Lady
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-16 18:43:11|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-18208
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