Three Small Female Heads. Oil painting, French School, c.1730.

Painting depicting three women, one of whom is apparently holding a baby, looking towards the left. A fragment probably cut from a large picture.

Bequeathed by John Jones

Bequeathed by John Jones, 1882

The painting fragment is small, only 7.6cm by 14cm and it was most likely once part of a larger painting. Both the 'Catalogue of the Jones Collection' (1923) and C.M. Kauffman’s seminal 'Catalogue of Foreign Paintings vol.I Before 1800' (1973) record this piece as an eighteenth century French painting. To date, no attribution to a specific artist has been suggest, neither has the fragments place in a larger work been ascertained.

The subject of this painting is unclear and without the context of the whole image, it may never be known. The three female figures are looking towards something on the left, which cannot be seen in this fragment. The light reflecting on the faces of the figures suggests they are looking at the subject of the original painting or are the subjects themselves. Both previously mentioned catalogues note the dress of the figures to be c.1730, but the limited size of the fragment makes more precise dating difficult. The dress of the figure on the left and that of central figure appears decidedly in keeping with the fashions of the early eighteenth century, with head coverings, bare shoulders and the hair worn in coiled plaits on the back of the head. A comparison to other French school paintings attributed to a similar period show ladies wearing white head coverings, pushed back from the forehead. The dress of the third female on the right appears more subdued, however so little is visible in this fragment that it is not possible to tell if she shares a similar hairstyle or head covering.
This figure also appears to be holding something protectively to her chest, it has been suggested the form may be an infant, although once again, it is not possible to confirm this given on the size of the fragment.

If the style of the figures’ dress gives an accurate dating, this fragment would have been part of a larger work painted during a period when the Rococo style dominated in France. The subject matter of paintings during this time was more playful and intimate than the previous Baroque period and painted with light palette and fluid, watery colours as typified by the works of Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), François Boucher (1703–1770) and Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806). However, without more information about the painting as a whole, it is impossible to determine the true subject of Museum no. 544-1882.

John Jones (1798/9-1882), a London tailor and army clothier, was a collector of eighteenth century Continental decorative arts and amassed one of the most important collections of French art in Britain. Upon his death in 1882, he left his vast collection to the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A). The 1034 objects in his bequest included paintings, portrait miniatures, porcelain, bronzes, furniture, sculptures, and prints, in addition to 780 volumes of books, including the first three Shakespearean folios.

This small fragment was once part of a larger work and shows the heads of three women apparently looking towards something or someone to their left. Due to the size of the fragment, is=t has not been possible to ascertain the overall subject of the larger, unknown painting and the women’s place within its context remains a mystery. The manner of the figures’ dress and hair indicate an early-eighteenth century French origin. The fragment was given to the Museum as part of a large bequest made by John Jones, a noted collector of eighteenth century French fine and decorative art.

544-1882