Portrait of Mary, Princess of Orange, later Mary II
Framed: 1 1/8 × 15/16 inches (2.86 × 2.38 cm)
The Starr Foundation Collection of Miniatures, The Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, December 8, 1972–January 14, 1973, no cat., no. 16, as Unknown Lady.
Portrait miniatures are intimate tokens of love, loss, allegiance, and affection exchanged between intimates. The earliest examples were painted in watercolor on translucent vellum (animal skin). The vellum was then coated on both sides with a smooth preparation suitable for painting upon then stuck to the plain side of a stiff card for added support. Miniature cases were made by jewelers and often as decorative as the portraits.
Samuel Cooper became the most celebrated miniaturist of the post-Restoration period in England (1660-1689) so-called as it marks the restoration of Charles II to the throne. Cooper trained with his uncle, John Hoskins and learned his ability to capture individual character. Cooper's resulting portraits reveal a keen sensitivity to detail unlike any other artist from the period.
After Cooper's death, miniaturists began to adopt new techniques to depict their subjects. From thickly applied paint to more delicate brushwork, and even hazy effects, artists began to explore their own signature style.
Possibly Susannah-Penelope Rosse (ca. 1652–1700) and Michael Rosse (1650–1735), London, by 1700;
Possibly purchased from Michael Rosse’s sale, London, April 1723 [1];
With Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, by 1958;
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1958.
Notes:
[1] Three portraits of Queen Mary by Rosse are listed in the multi-part April 1723 sale of Michael Rosse’s belongings, published in abridged form in Daphne Foskett, Samuel Cooper 1609–1672 (London: Faber and Faber, 1974), 100–106. Lot 63, sold on April 3, 1723, was described as “2, King William and Queen Mary, by Mrs. Rosse”. Lot 199, dating to the fourth day of the second portion of the sale which began on April 26, is described as “Queen Mary, ditto [by Mrs. Rosse]”. Lot 248, sold on the fifth day of the second sale, is described as “2, King William and Queen Mary, ditto [by Mrs. Rosse]. It is possible, but not provable, that the Nelson-Atkins miniature could have been sold in one of these lots.
Ross E. Taggart, ed., Handbook of the Collections in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 4th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1959), 265, as Unknown Lady.
Ross E. Taggart, The Starr Collection of Miniatures in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, 1971), no. 16, p. 12, (repro.), as Unknown Lady.
Daphne Foskett, Samuel Cooper 1609–1672 (London: Faber and Faber, 1974), 100–06.
