Artwork
Portrait of a Lady
Portrait of a Lady is a watercolor painting by the Rococo painting artist Robert Fulton. It dates from 1785 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Her identity is not recorded, and the work functions as a generic study of a female sitter rather than a commemorative likeness of a known individual.
The miniature portrays an unnamed woman rendered in watercolor on ivory by Robert Fulton in 1785. Her identity is not recorded, and the work functions as a generic study of a female sitter rather than a commemorative likeness of a known individual. The visual program is built from a small vocabulary of genteel accessories catalogued in the iconographic record: a feather ornament in her hair, an earring, a lace-trimmed fichu draped across the bodice, and the surrounding lace framing the face.
Each of these elements belongs to the standard late-eighteenth-century vocabulary of feminine refinement, signaling modesty, fashionability, and social standing. Read together, the feather, lace, and fichu construct an image of decorum and cultivated taste, presenting the sitter as an embodiment of contemporary ideals of feminine elegance rather than as a vehicle for symbolic meaning.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in watercolor on an ivory support, a format typical of early American portrait miniatures. Created in 1785, it measures roughly 5.7 × 4.8 cm and belongs to the portrait genre within The American Wing. The composition portrays a woman adorned with lace, a feather, an earring, and a fichu, details rendered with washes that emphasize texture and fashionable dress.
As a miniature on ivory, the piece requires careful handling to preserve the delicate surface, though no specific conservation issues are documented.
History & Provenance
Created in 1785, Portrait of a Lady is a watercolor on ivory executed by the American artist Robert Fulton. The work depicts a woman adorned with a feather, earring, lace, and fichu. While the specific commission details and the original owner remain unrecorded in the available documentation, the piece entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is currently housed within The American Wing.
The miniature measures 5.7 by 4.8 centimeters. No further information regarding the chain of ownership between its creation in 1785 and its acquisition by the museum is provided in the source material.
Context
Portrait of a Lady, painted by Robert Fulton in 1785, is documented as a watercolor on ivory portrait classified within The American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work portrays a woman adorned with an earring, feather, fichu, and lace, reflecting contemporary dress and decorative details. Its inclusion in the museum's collection underscores its significance in early American portraiture and provides a point of reference for scholarship examining Fulton's role in the development of American artistic identity. The piece's genre and material technique are frequently cited in studies of 18th-century portrait conventions.
Overview
This miniature, titled Portrait of a Lady, is an early work by Robert Fulton, who would later achieve renown for his steamboat designs. Executed in watercolor on a delicate ivory support, the artwork depicts a woman adorned in a pale blue gown, featuring intricate lace details and a prominent white feather in her coiffure. Its diminutive scale is characteristic of portrait miniatures from the period.
Artist & collection
Artist
Robert Fulton (1765 to 1815), the American engineer remembered for developing the first commercially successful steamboat, began his career as a painter.
- Portrait of a Lady
Portrait of a Lady
Louisa W. Dixon
Mrs. Charlotte Lennox
Mrs. John Cox (Esther Bowes)
Hannah Mahady
Portrait of a Woman
Mrs. Joseph Donaldson (Frances Johnston)
Mrs. Henry Pratt (Rebecca Claypoole)
Portrait of a Woman, Said to Be Lady Dering
Portrait of a Woman
Mrs. Samuel Denman (Anna Maria Hampton)