Portrait of an unknown woman thumbnail 1
Portrait of an unknown woman thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Portrait Miniatures, Room 90a, The International Music and Art Foundation Gallery

Portrait of an unknown woman

Portrait Miniature
1760 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Luke Sullivan was over 50 years old when he painted this miniature, one of his first. Though modest in size, its vivacity sets it apart from the more stiffly posed, reserved works of many of his contemporaries in miniature painting. It is indicative of Sullivan's very different artistic background. He began as an engraver and assistant to the influential painter and print-maker William Hogarth, and spent the 1750s at the heart of London's artistic life. Like most of the artists of that time, Sullivan clearly assimilated elements of the French Rococo, a decorative style characterised by a serpentine sense of rhythm and freedom, a graceful spontaneity and frivolity.

Interestingly, this miniature is less like a portrait of a sitter posed for a likeness, than a decorative picture: the girl with her music in hand, her lips slightly apart as if held in mid-song, her body and her eyes inclined towards her audience. The conceit could reflect the popularity on the print market of so-called ‘fancy pictures’. These were single decorative images of young women caught in mid-action, for example, washing, or selling goods such as ballads.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePortrait of an unknown woman (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour on ivory
Brief description
Portrait miniature of an unknown woman, dated 1760, watercolour on ivory, painted by Luke Sullivan (1705-1771).
Physical description
Portrait miniature of an unknown woman holding a sheet of paper. Miniature is in an oval setting surrounded by red stones.
Dimensions
  • Height: 44mm
  • Width: 25mm
Style
Credit line
Given by Mrs Emma Joseph
Subjects depicted
Summary
Luke Sullivan was over 50 years old when he painted this miniature, one of his first. Though modest in size, its vivacity sets it apart from the more stiffly posed, reserved works of many of his contemporaries in miniature painting. It is indicative of Sullivan's very different artistic background. He began as an engraver and assistant to the influential painter and print-maker William Hogarth, and spent the 1750s at the heart of London's artistic life. Like most of the artists of that time, Sullivan clearly assimilated elements of the French Rococo, a decorative style characterised by a serpentine sense of rhythm and freedom, a graceful spontaneity and frivolity.

Interestingly, this miniature is less like a portrait of a sitter posed for a likeness, than a decorative picture: the girl with her music in hand, her lips slightly apart as if held in mid-song, her body and her eyes inclined towards her audience. The conceit could reflect the popularity on the print market of so-called ‘fancy pictures’. These were single decorative images of young women caught in mid-action, for example, washing, or selling goods such as ballads.
Bibliographic reference
Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1941, London: HMSO, 1954.
Collection
Accession number
P.30-1941

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Record createdFebruary 25, 2003
Record URL
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