Early French Portrait Miniature of Mlle de Blois c1695
Directory: Fine Art: Paintings: Miniatures: Pre 1700: Item # 1399580
Please refer to our stock # na143 when inquiring.
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A fine watercolor on vellum painting of an aristocratic woman. The sitter, a blue-eyed blonde powder haired woman who is coquettishly toying with a long lock of her hair, is gloriously decked out in a very low cut white gown with a red shawl. The gown is partially held up by a long strand of diamond and gold jewelry with a matching bracelet on her left arm. Farther up that arm the sleeve of the gown is cinched by a diamond and pearl brooch. A pearl bracelet circles her right arm.
A label on paper covering the back of the frame erroneously identifies the sitter. In actuality she is Marie Anne de Bourbon,( October 1666 – May 1739), the eldest legitimised daughter of King Louis XIV of France and his mistress Louise de La Vallière. Considered by many as the king's most beautiful daughter, she was her father's favorite daughter. During her youth, she was known as Mademoiselle de Blois. At the age of thirteen she was married to Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti and as such was the Princess of Conti by marriage. She was widowed in 1685 at age 19. She never remarried and died childless.
The condition of the painting is excellent, with but a few specks of loss in the background. The sight size is 3 3/4" by 2 3/4", and the overall size of the wood frame is 4 3/4" by 3 3/4".
