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Unknown, Portrait of a Woman, late 19th century, watercolor and gouache on ivory, sight: 2 9/16 x 2 9/16 in. (6.5 x 6.5 cm), framed: 3 1/8 x 3 1/8 in. (7.9 x 7.9 cm), Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Starr and the Starr Foundation, Inc., F58-60/64
Unknown, Portrait of a Woman (verso), late 19th century, watercolor and gouache on ivory, sight: 2 9/16 x 2 9/16 in. (6.5 x 6.5 cm), framed: 3 1/8 x 3 1/8 in. (7.9 x 7.9 cm), Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Starr and the Starr Foundation, Inc., F58-60/64
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Unknown, Portrait of a Woman, late 19th century

Artist Unknown (French)
Former Attribution Pierre Adolphe Hall (Swedish, 1739–1793)
Title Portrait of a Woman
Object Date late 19th century
Medium Watercolor and gouache on ivory
Setting Gilt copper frame
Dimensions Sight: 2 9/16 x 2 9/16 in. (6.5 x 6.5 cm)
Framed: 3 1/8 x 3 1/8 in. (7.9 x 7.9 cm)
Inscription Inscribed on recto, lower left: “Hall”
Credit Line Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Starr and the Starr Foundation, Inc., F58-60/64

doi: 10.37764/8322.5.4220

Curatorial Notes

While this miniature was long identified as the work of Pierre Adolphe Hall, as Bernd Pappe has noted, it lacks Hall’s style and technique and most likely dates to the end of the nineteenth century. According to Pappe, “The miniature is painted in the style of French artists from the end of the Ancien Régime, [but] the style of the dress with its unusual belt and bizarre vertical seam in front does not correspond.” We are grateful to Bernd Pappe for his insight on the attribution of this miniature during a visit to the Nelson-Atkins from July 24–26, 2023 (see Bernd Pappe, “Attribution Report,” August 6, 2023, Nelson-Atkins curatorial files).

Provenance

Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, by 1958;

Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1958.

Exhibitions

The Starr Foundation Collection of Miniatures, The Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, December 8, 1972–January 14, 1973, no cat., no. 249, as by Pierre Adolphe Hall, Unknown Lady.

References

Ross E. Taggart, The Starr Collection of Miniatures in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, 1971), no. 249, p. 81, (repro.), as by Pierre Adolphe Hall, Unknown Lady.

No known related works at this time. If you have additional information on this object, please tell us more.

Unknown, Portrait of a Woman, late 19th century, watercolor and gouache on ivory, sight: 2 9/16 x 2 9/16 in. (6.5 x 6.5 cm), framed: 3 1/8 x 3 1/8 in. (7.9 x 7.9 cm), Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Starr and the Starr Foundation, Inc., F58-60/64
Unknown, Portrait of a Woman (verso), late 19th century, watercolor and gouache on ivory, sight: 2 9/16 x 2 9/16 in. (6.5 x 6.5 cm), framed: 3 1/8 x 3 1/8 in. (7.9 x 7.9 cm), Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Starr and the Starr Foundation, Inc., F58-60/64
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