Portrait of a Lady

The work titled Portrait of a Lady was produced in 1800 by British‑American painter Robert Field as a watercolor on ivory. It depicts a woman wearing a fichu, lace, and a neck ribbon, elements recorded in both the museum’s classification and the Wikidata entry. The painting entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it has been housed continuously and is presently exhibited in The American Wing.

Its dimensions measure 8.4 × 6.8 cm, and the subject is identified as a woman. The provenance reflects a straightforward ownership chain from the artist to the museum, with no documented intermediaries.

This small watercolor on ivory depicts an unidentified woman from early 19th-century America. Her attire, featuring a white dress, lace details, and a blue ribbon in her dark hair, reflects the fashion of the period around 1800. The miniature format, characteristic of such portraits, allowed for a personal and intimate depiction.

The artist employed watercolor on a thin slice of ivory, a common technique for miniature portraits. By applying the pigment in delicate, translucent layers, the natural luminosity of the ivory support was utilized to create a soft, radiant quality, particularly noticeable in the sitter's complexion. This method contributed to the intimate scale, making the portrait suitable for personal keepsakes.

Miniature portraits flourished in America during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, serving as cherished personal objects. Before the advent of photography, these small-scale images provided an accessible means of preserving likenesses. This particular example, housed in the American Wing, represents a widespread artistic practice that captured individual appearances for private contemplation and display.