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Lot Essay
The sitter was first identified as 'dame de la famille Saint Pol' in 1897 and there is a tradition that she is Madame d'Usson de Bonnac (1726-1798), the widow of Cornelis Munter. Born Margaretha Cornelia van de Poll, this wealthy lady had been pursued by Pierre-Chrysostome, chevalier de Bonnac and brother to the attaché of the French ambassador to The Hague. This was a match which provoked considerable gossip in France (for an account of the affair, see N. Jeffares, 'The Marquis de Bonnac: A Suggested Identification of a Portrait by Louis Vigée', Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, vol. 25, no. 1, March 2002, pp. 45-74).
However, a confirmed portrait of Madame d'Usson de Bonnac by Jean Fournier survives, dated 1750 (Grijzenhout, op. cit., no. 28). Both Grijzenhout and Jeffares (2009, op. cit.) have pointed out that the elegant young sitter in the present portrait cannot be the same lady as that portrayed in Fournier's earlier work. The lady shown here may be another member of the van de Poll family, portrayed shortly after Liotard arrived in France in 1756.
The portrait has had a distinguished provenance and for many years formed part of the collection of the des Tombe family. It came into the possession of A.A. des Tombe (1818-1902) in 1897 and became part of an important collection which was open to the public and which included Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring (now in the Mauritshuis, The Hague). It passed to his nephew, J.W. des Tombe (1861-1926) and hung in his house on the Plompetorengracht in Utrecht (Fig. 1), since when it has descended in the family.
However, a confirmed portrait of Madame d'Usson de Bonnac by Jean Fournier survives, dated 1750 (Grijzenhout, op. cit., no. 28). Both Grijzenhout and Jeffares (2009, op. cit.) have pointed out that the elegant young sitter in the present portrait cannot be the same lady as that portrayed in Fournier's earlier work. The lady shown here may be another member of the van de Poll family, portrayed shortly after Liotard arrived in France in 1756.
The portrait has had a distinguished provenance and for many years formed part of the collection of the des Tombe family. It came into the possession of A.A. des Tombe (1818-1902) in 1897 and became part of an important collection which was open to the public and which included Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring (now in the Mauritshuis, The Hague). It passed to his nephew, J.W. des Tombe (1861-1926) and hung in his house on the Plompetorengracht in Utrecht (Fig. 1), since when it has descended in the family.