Miss Jacobs: P.15086-R

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Miss Jacobs

Maker(s)

Printmaker: Spilsbury, Jonathan
Publisher: Boydell, John
Painter: Reynolds, Joshua (After)

Entities

Description

After the painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1761; Mannings, 995; Sold at Sotheby's, New York, Important Old Master Paintings and European Works of Art, 25th-26th January 2007, lot 65 [previously collection of Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio]; reproduced in colour in the catalogue). The sitter has never been identified and the name which has become attached to the portrait originates, according to Hamilton, '[i]n the old catalogues of 1794 of Sir Joshua's engraved works [where] she is styled "Miss Jacobs - anonymous." The name was used again in the 1796 auction catalogue of an anonymous sale in London at Greenwood's, Portraits, Fancy pictures Studies and Sketches by the late Sir Joshua Reynolds, April 15, 1796, lot 14, where the painting was bought by the Marquess of Hertford. Bromley records the portrait as 'Miss Jacob' and locates it in 'Gentlewomen' the second subdivision of his Class IX (Bromley, p. 439). The additional name of 'Esther' would seem to originate with Russell (1926), who lists the title hesistantly as '(Miss Jacob)' and then states that 'The lady's name was Esther Jacobs'. This name is perpetuated by Ellis Waterhouse, c.1941, in his annotated copy of Graves and Cronin, A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A. (London, 1899-1901) now in the Waterhouse archive at the Paul Mellon Centre, London. Boydell's catalogue records the print as 'a lady unknown' (see Hamilton, p.111 and Chaloner Smith, 21). As Mannings points out, the fact that no sittings for a 'Miss Jacobs' or 'Miss Jacob' are recorded in Reynolds's sitter's day book supports the theory that she was a paid model. Seated, half-length in a chair, positioned slightly towards the right, head turned three-quarters to the right, looking down and to the right, an expression of regret or contemplation on her face. She wears a loose-fitting silk robe over a white chemise and holds a posy of flowers in her lap. A single strand of pearls around her neck and tied at the back with a ribbon and her fair hair pinned loosely on top of her head with pearls and ribbon.

Legal notes

Bequeathed by Charles Brinsley Marlay, 1912

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1912) by Marlay, Charles Brinsley

Dating

18th Century#
Production date: 1762-01-01 AD 1762

Note

Mezzotint. Trimmed to within the platemark. The depth of tone indicates that it is most likely an early impression, presumably of the first state, before letters and, as Hamilton notes, 'before the plate was cleaned' (see Notes). Inscribed on the verso in graphite, initials: 'BM' ('B[rinsley] M[arlay]' - written in the donor's hand) and 'CBM' (written in each in a curatorial hand). Inscribed in various different hands: 'Spilsbury fecit / This print won the premium of the Society of Arts'; '?8[...] 18[?44]'; '2'; 'Miss Jacobs'; an old, erroneous inscription, partially erased, 'Miss Palmer / niece to Sr Joshua R'. Inscribed in a curatorial hand on an old mount: 'Miss Jacob / (Esther Jacobs)'. See Chaloner Smith for the inscription on the second, lettered state, which gives details about Spilsbury's plate having won 'the highest premium in the year 1761, granted by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce'.

School or Style

British

Techniques used in production

Mezzotint

Identification numbers

Accession number: P.15086-R
Primary reference Number: 240115
O'Donoghue: 1 [as 'Esther Jacobs']
Chaloner Smith: 21.I/II
Hamilton: I/II (p.111)
Russell (Chaloner Smith): 21 (as '(Miss Jacob)')
Stable URI