A Woman, presumed to be a self-portrait of Susannah-Penelope Rosse thumbnail 1
A Woman, presumed to be a self-portrait of Susannah-Penelope Rosse thumbnail 2

A Woman, presumed to be a self-portrait of Susannah-Penelope Rosse

Portrait Miniature
1685-1690 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This miniature painting is one of a group of 17th-century unfinished miniatures on tablets of vellum originally interleaved into the blank pages of a leather-bound book traditionally called ‘Samuel Cooper's Pocket Book’. This book was acquired by the V&A in 1892, when all the works were believed to be by Samuel Cooper. It is now agreed that four are by Cooper and the other ten, except one, are by Susannah Penelope Rosse. It is possible that this ‘Pocket Book’ actually belonged to Susannah Rosse and her husband, Michael Rosse, a wealthy jeweller. Susannah was the daughter of Cooper's fellow miniaturist, Richard Gibson. She grew up in London only a few streets from Cooper and, as a married woman, lived in Cooper's former house on Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. She was a great admirer of Cooper. The sale of Michael Rosse's collection of art in 1723, over 20 years after Susannah Rosse 's death, included original works by Cooper and also acknowledged copies of Cooper by Mrs Rosse. Examples of Cooper's unfinished works would have allowed Susannah Rosse to study closely Cooper's technique. This portrait is inscribed on the back ‘Mrs Rosse’ and is almost certainly a self-portrait. The other works by her in the group are a remarkably intimate record of relations and also of neighbours on Henrietta Street.

Delve deeper

Discover more about this object
read Portrait miniatures at the V&A In 1857, the year the new South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) opened to the public, the museum acquired its first portrait miniature – an image of Queen Elizabeth I by Nicholas Hilliard. The miniature, housed in an enamelled gold locket with a jewelled cover, is a rare survival as most E...

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleA Woman, presumed to be a self-portrait of Susannah-Penelope Rosse (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour on vellum put down on a leaf from a table-book
Brief description
Portrait miniature of a woman, presumed to be a self-portrait of Susannah-Penelope Rosse, watercolour on vellum, 1685-1690.
Physical description
Portrait of a woman, to front, head turned slightly to right, wearing an orange-brown dress with white frill edging and a long stripped veil over right shoulder; oval on a rectangular sheet. Features very delicately hatched and blended in pale browns and sanguine, with touches of black and white in the eyes, on a pale but rich carnation ground; hair in brown wash, lined with dark brown/black and with touches of grey and some ochre highlights; head-dress in transparent pale brown wash, with touches of white and ochre, and red-brown; dress in brown wash modelled in black and grey; background an opaque green wash, hatched in black to the left and right above shoulders; on vellum put down on a leaf from a table-book.
Dimensions
  • Sheet height: 93mm
  • Sheet width: 71mm
  • Oval height: 82mm
  • Oval width: 66mm
Dimensions taken from John Murdoch Seventeenth-century English Miniatures in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: The Stationery Office, 1997.
Content description
Portrait of a woman, oval, turned to front and wearing a veil.
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
'Mrs. Rosse.' (Inscribed in metal-point (?) on the back)
Object history
Provenance: Presumably acquired from Cooper's estate by the Rosses, or perhaps by Priestman (see Rosse, Cat. No. 143) and perhaps in the Michael Rosse sale, 2 April 1723; eventually purchased by Edwin [Durning] Lawrence before 1862, and sold by him to the Museum for £525 in 1892.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This miniature painting is one of a group of 17th-century unfinished miniatures on tablets of vellum originally interleaved into the blank pages of a leather-bound book traditionally called ‘Samuel Cooper's Pocket Book’. This book was acquired by the V&A in 1892, when all the works were believed to be by Samuel Cooper. It is now agreed that four are by Cooper and the other ten, except one, are by Susannah Penelope Rosse. It is possible that this ‘Pocket Book’ actually belonged to Susannah Rosse and her husband, Michael Rosse, a wealthy jeweller. Susannah was the daughter of Cooper's fellow miniaturist, Richard Gibson. She grew up in London only a few streets from Cooper and, as a married woman, lived in Cooper's former house on Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. She was a great admirer of Cooper. The sale of Michael Rosse's collection of art in 1723, over 20 years after Susannah Rosse 's death, included original works by Cooper and also acknowledged copies of Cooper by Mrs Rosse. Examples of Cooper's unfinished works would have allowed Susannah Rosse to study closely Cooper's technique. This portrait is inscribed on the back ‘Mrs Rosse’ and is almost certainly a self-portrait. The other works by her in the group are a remarkably intimate record of relations and also of neighbours on Henrietta Street.
Bibliographic reference
Murdoch, John. Seventeenth-century English Miniatures in the Collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London: The Stationery Office in association with the Victoria & Albert Museum, 1997.
Collection
Accession number
457-1892

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdFebruary 25, 2003
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest