By the great master silhouettist Augustin Edouart is this elegant lady with a very tall bonnet and her quizzing glass in hand. The woman is one of Edouart’s earliest pieces (although the last digit of the date is smudged, it appears to be dated “1828” which was two years after he started working professionally) and is placed on one of the lovely sepia watercolor backgrounds that Edouart had painted for his clients. I love the way the lady’s bonnet is so tall in front that it appears to be tilted forward and squashing the curls covering her forehead down over her eyes. The weight of all of that hair under her bonnet must have been a bit distracting to her daily activities—ah, the things that people deal with to be fashionable! The bonnet is bedecked with ribbons but I’m not sure whether it is the bonnet that is tied below her chin or if she wears another ribbon tied around her neck. The lady wears a fold-down collar over her dress which is belted at her natural waist and includes two flounces on her skirt. We can only see her sleeve right above the wrist, but that is enough to show us that the sleeve is very full, at least below the elbow. Her skirt falls to the ground so that we can only see one of her tiny shoes peeking out from under. Her quizzing glass is on a long cord around her neck and held in her hand as if she is getting ready to look at something with it. Although eyeglasses that rested on the nose and ears were invented in 1727, they were not considered fashionable whereas a quizzing glass was considered not only fashionable but also practical in that one could wear it around the neck and use it to inspect a single item.
The watercolor background is of an outdoor patio with block flooring and tall squared-off column or block fence. At the top of the column sits a lovely Grecian urn. The patio appears to overlook a valley dissected by paths or roadways. Condition is very good but for a pinhole at about 12 o’clock that you can see in the photos and a small surface rub to the bottom left side of her skirt that is not noticeable. Housed in a period, slanted profile bird’s-eye maple frame with a gilt slip. Framed size is 13 ½” x 9 ½”.
#5742 Sold
Please see the Silhouettist Bios page for more information about Augustin Edouart.
