An Unknown Woman
Portrait Miniature
1575-1580 (painted)
1575-1580 (painted)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This had been assumed to be an unfinished miniature. But V. J. Murrell, V&A Conservator suggested in the 1983 'Artists of the Tudor Court' exhibition catalogue that the painting was probably a demonstration piece kept in the studio. The evidence for this, in particular, the carelessness in the preparation of the vellum which has been crudely trimmed and fails to reach the upper edge of the playing card upon which it has been mounted. Nonetheless this miniature shows something of what Hilliard would have have achieved after two of the three customary sittings, working directly onto the vellum support (fine animal skin). The ‘carnation’ - the flesh-coloured ground painted in the area of the face - has been laid down. Some of the features have been modelled over the carnation, using hatches of red and brown, but more detail is needed on the face and on the costume.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | An Unknown Woman (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour on vellum stuck to a playing card |
| Brief description | Portrait miniature of an unknown woman, watercolour on vellum, painted by Nicholas Hilliard, 1575-1580. |
| Physical description | Portrait miniature of a woman, oval, looking to front, the head turned slightly to the right and wearing a ruff. The features incomplete and modelled over a carnation ground in transparent hatches of red and brown; the hair loosely washed over the carnation ground to indicate its disposition; the almost complete and worked up with ransparent grey over a white ground, and its lace raised in thick white; the background has been taken only so far as the first thin wash of blue bice; the costume has been indicated with dark lines of brown and black over the vellum, below which there are faint signs of graphite underdrawing. The portrait is backed with a playing card with three spades showing at the reverse. |
| Dimensions |
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| Content description | Portrait of a woman, head and shoulders, looking to front and wearing a white ruff. |
| Styles | |
| Credit line | Given by E. Peter Jones |
| Object history | COLLECTIONS: Bequeathed by E. Peter Jones, 1948, previous history unknown but conceiveably this is the miniature recorded at Strawberry Hill in Horace Walpole's collection: ‘A lady’s head, by Hilliard, unfinished' bought at Mr Lovibonde’s’ (Description of the villa at Strawberry Hill, 1774, p.22). |
| Historical context | Probably used as an artist's demonstration piece. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This had been assumed to be an unfinished miniature. But V. J. Murrell, V&A Conservator suggested in the 1983 'Artists of the Tudor Court' exhibition catalogue that the painting was probably a demonstration piece kept in the studio. The evidence for this, in particular, the carelessness in the preparation of the vellum which has been crudely trimmed and fails to reach the upper edge of the playing card upon which it has been mounted. Nonetheless this miniature shows something of what Hilliard would have have achieved after two of the three customary sittings, working directly onto the vellum support (fine animal skin). The ‘carnation’ - the flesh-coloured ground painted in the area of the face - has been laid down. Some of the features have been modelled over the carnation, using hatches of red and brown, but more detail is needed on the face and on the costume. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | P.8-1947 |
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| Record created | January 6, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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