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Portrait of a Lady, probably Queen Henrietta Maria: T.19-1945

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Portrait of a Lady, probably Queen Henrietta Maria

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

White silk embroidered with deep, mid, pale and very pale blue, deep green, yellowish-green, yellowish-brown, cream, fawn, grey, and white silks, metal thread, and purl, with attached coral beads and pearls. Stitches: bullion knot, couching, French knot, long and short, needlepoint and satin. Within an oval frame with a purl border is a portrait of a Queen Henrietta Maria (1606-1669), the head of carved wood in high relief covered with canvas, the features painted, hair real, crystal ear-drops, necklace of seed pearls and coral, bodice satin embroidered with flowers, collar of needlepoint lace, net kerchief draped over shoulders. In the background is a palace with in front of it a lake with rocky surround. Four symmetrical sprays of stylized leaves in purl spring from the centres of the four sides of the oval. In the top left corner is a rose spray and in the top right, a spray of carnation. In the bottom left is a lion with a pansy above him, and in the lower right, a leopard with wild rose above him. Both animals on grounds of moss formed by loops of tightly twisted silk.

Notes

History note: By 1903, Rachel E. Head, Bath; by 1921, Percival D. Griffiths; between 1 October 1928 and 30 September 1929, sold by Griffiths to unknown buyer (£90). Louis Colville Gray Clarke (1881-1960), Leckhampton, Cambridge, by whom given

Legal notes

Given by Louis C.G. Clarke, MA

Measurements and weight

Height: 22.2 cm
Width: 26 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1945-07-24) by Clarke, Louis Colville Gray

Dating

17th Century, third quarter#
Circa 1650 - 1675

Note

The building in the background appears to be Richmond Palace, which was given to Henrietta Maria as a gift by her husband, Charles I, in the 1620s.

Components of the work

Embroidery composed of silk ( polychrome)
Base composed of satin

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: T.19-1945
Primary reference Number: 139878
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 25 April 2023 Last processed: Thursday 7 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Portrait of a Lady, probably Queen Henrietta Maria" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/139878 Accessed: 2024-11-22 04:24:55

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/139878 |title=Portrait of a Lady, probably Queen Henrietta Maria |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-22 04:24:55|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-139878

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