PORTRAIT OF A LADY

Details

FRENCH OR ITALIAN, CIRCA 1775-1780
PORTRAIT OF A LADY
Terracotta bust
25 ½ in. (64.8 cm.) high

Special notice

This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

Brought to you by

Donald Johnston

djohnston@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2331

Lot Essay

In the mid-1770s in Paris tapé coiffure became fashionable, in which hair was lifted and frizzed finely in huge curls so as to form a kind of halo or diadem around the face, whilst the forehead was left uncovered and the hair on the back remained smooth. This fashion spread throughout Europe, particularly to England. This flamboyant style was quickly satirised in cartoons, such as 'The extravaganza, or the mountain head dress of 1776' (Matthew Darly, 10 April 1776, see British Museum, inv. no. J,5.126). The present bust has been linked with the Franco-Italo sculptor Gaetano Merchi (1747-1823), who made several portraits of ladies from the court of Louis XVI in Paris in the late 1770s.

More from European Sculpture & Works of Art

View All