Portrait of a Girl
Framed (case closed): 3 3/8 × 2 15/16 inches (8.57 × 7.46 cm)
Framed (case open): 3 3/8 × 5 1/2 inches (8.57 × 13.97 cm)
High-waisted flowing dresses and unpowdered curls abounded in the Regency era (about 1795–1837). A period in Britain associated with the rise of King George IV (see number 4 on the reverse side) and the work of novelist Jane Austen, this time left its mark on fashion, too.
Inspired by the classical fashions of Greece and Rome, this period witnessed an emphasis on elegance and simplicity. Recalling garments on ancient statues, women often wore lightweight white fabrics closely fitted to the torso, with waistlines falling just under the bust. This style, known as Empire waist, initially appeared in France and England in the 1790s and gained currency during Napoleon’s empire (1804–1814), as reflected in its name. It continues to appear in fashions today.
Probably Lewis Charles Wallach (1871–1964), The Grange, Northington, Hampshire, by May 2, 1955 [1];
Purchased from his sale, Fine Portrait Miniatures, Sotheby and Co., London, May 2, 1955, lot 51, as A Miniature of a Young Girl, by Leggatt Brothers, London, probably on behalf of Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, 1955–1958 [2];
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1958.
Notes
[1] In the 1955 sales catalogue, “The Property of L. C. Wallach, Esq. The Grange, Northington, Hants,” is listed for lots 46-94.
[2] This sales catalogue is located at The University of Missouri–Kansas City’s Miller Nichols Library and is likely annotated by Mr. or Mrs. Starr with a slash next to the lot, a circled lot number, and “£28.” According to an attached price list, Leggatt purchased lot 51 for £28.
Described in the catalogue as “A miniature of a young girl by Peter Paillou, signed and dated 1811, full face, fair short hair, in Empire white dress; and another of her brother in white vest and dark grey coat, 2 7/8 in., signed and dated 1808, fitted cases.”
See related lot 52: “A miniature of a young man by Peter Paillou, signed and dated 1817, nearly full face, fresh complexion, dark hair, perhaps a member of the same family as in the preceding lot, 2 7/5 in.; and another of a Young Girl in low-cut white dress of Empire style, 2 1/2 in. These works by Paillou would certainly appear to be during his residence in Glasgow.”
Archival research has shown that Leggatt Brothers served as purchasing agents for the Starrs.
Catalogue of Fine Portrait Miniatures (London: Sotheby’s, May 2, 1955), lot 51, as A miniature of a young girl by Peter Paillou, signed and dated 1811, full face, fair short hair, in Empire white dress; and another of her brother in white vest and dark grey coat, 2 7/8 in., signed and dated 1808, fitted cases.
Ross E. Taggart, The Starr Collection of Miniatures in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, 1971), no. 199, p. 67, (repro.), as Unknown Young Girl.
Maggie Keenan, “Peter Paillou, Portrait of a Girl, 1811,” catalogue entry in Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan, The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, vol. 3, ed. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan (Kansas City: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024), https://doi.org/10.37764/8322.5.1454.
