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Portrait of a young girl
John Smart, born 1742 - died 1811 - Enlarge image
Portrait of a young girl
- Object:
Portrait miniature
- Place of origin:
England, Great Britain (probably, painted)
- Date:
late 1790s (painted)
- Artist/Maker:
John Smart, born 1742 - died 1811 (artist)
- Materials and Techniques:
Watercolour and graphite on paper
- Credit Line:
Bequeathed by Mrs K. Gifford Scott
- Museum number:
P.31-1984
- Gallery location:
Portrait Miniatures, room 90a, case 15
In the late 18th century a new sister art and rival to miniature portraits appeared. Since about 1700 miniaturists had worked on ivory, and before that on vellum (animal skin). Up to the late 18th century, watercolour was used mainly by topographic artists, who applied it on paper to tint their drawings. But as watercolour painting developed as an art in its own right, miniaturists saw that working on paper was easier, and so quicker and cheaper. They could thus attract new patrons. Many now widened their repertoire and developed types of watercolour portraits on paper or card. They produced elegant graphite drawings, either tinted lightly with a watercolour wash or with the sitter's head painted minutely in watercolour.
This is a typical example by John Smart, who produced many such small oval portraits, with the face finished and body sketched quickly. One problem with paper is that it can quickly discolour and degrade, unlike the more expensive vellum or ivory. Smart's small graphite and watercolour portraits on paper often have the slightly brown tint seen in this miniature. Originally, the paper would have been a crisp white.
