JOHN SMART (BRITISH, 1742/1743-1811)

Details

JOHN SMART (BRITISH, 1742/1743-1811)
A preparatory sketch of a young lady called Miss F. Ewer (d. 1786), in blue dress with white ruched collar, the ermine-bordered sleeve slashed to reveal white, pearls and blue feathers in her upswept fair hair
signed with initials and dated 'JS / 1783' (lower left)
pencil and watercolour on card
oval, 2½ in. (63 mm.) high, gilt-metal frame with garnet surround, the reverse with hairwork within opaque white enamel surround inscribed 'A ROSE / WITHOUT / THORN' F. EWER OB 4 DEC 1786'

Provenance

Ernst Holzscheiter Collection, Meilen; part III, Sotheby's, London, 9 June 1986, lot 42.
With D. S. Lavender (Antiques) Ltd., in 1987.

Literature

U. Isler-Hungerbühler, 'Die Miniaturen-Sammlung Holzscheiter', Artis, February 1961, pp. 32-33, illustrated p. 32 fig. 3.

Exhibited

Zurich, Haus am Rechberg, 1957-1958 (lent by Ernst Holzscheiter, Meilen).
Zurich, Haus am Rechberg, 1961 (lent by Ernst Holzscheiter, Meilen).

Brought to you by

Katharine Cooke

kcooke@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2343

Lot Essay

A finished miniature by Smart of a young lady called Miss Ewer was exhibited in June 1909 at An Exhibition of English Miniatures by Celebrated Masters of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, E. M. Hodgkins, 158B New Bond Street, no. 56.

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