Portrait Of Miss White
Portrait Of Miss White (Presumed) c1838 by French Painter Joseph Désiré Court (1797 – 1865) a portrait paint and painter of historical subject matter.
Dit is in portrait of an attractive young lady in a lavish off shoulder floral embossed white dress with ruffled sleeves; wearing a gold jeweled headdress that has rubies and pearls at the front and side.
She is also wearing a matching gold string necklace, with a similar ruby and pearl cluster that in two parts extends all the way to her lap as she sits on a balcony with her left arm slightly leaning over a decorative brass railing that is connected to a large classic column on her right.
The scene completes with a background that depicts a terrain made of a forest and low lands with a lake (surrounded by land on all sides) running through it and further in the distance a large river (empties into sea or ocean) with rough waters accented by blue mountainous terrain; and a bluish white sky.
Portrait Of Miss White is a retouched digital art old masters reproduction of a public domain image.
Below Info Courtesy The Matthiesen Gallery
It is thought that the Portrait Of Miss White, referred to in the 1838 Salon catalogue as Portrait of Miss W, may perhaps be of the daughter of Louis-Philippe’s trusted valet, George White. There was a ‘Mademoiselle White’ in service during the 1830s as a chambermaid to Adélaïde d’Orléans, Louis Philippe's suster en it soe net ûngewoan west hawwe foar it bern fan in fertroude tsjinstfeint om wurk te krijen yn 'e húshâlding fan in oar lid fan' e keninklike famylje.
George White sels wie oarspronklik yn tsjinst west by de broer fan 'e kening, de hartoch fan Montpensier, en nei syn dea yn 1807 waard oernommen troch Louis-Philippe. George While wurdt leaud dat hy de tsjinst fan 'e keninklike famylje is yngien tidens har earste ballingskip yn Ingelân, fan 1800-1815, en stie op om de neiste fan persoanlike tsjinstfeinten te wêzen. George hie keamers op sawol it kastiel fan Randan as it Trianon yn Versailles en krige in fergoeding fan 3000 franken tidens de twadde ballingskip fan Louis-Philippe, 1848-1850.
It is ek bekend dat George each hie foar keunst, ynkeap fan wurken út namme fan Louis-Philippe op in oantal gelegenheden. Although this portrait of miss white may seem grand for a servant, it perhaps shows both the esteem with which the family was held within the Royal Household and also George’s connections within the artistic fraternity. Whether he was personally known to Court we are not sure, however Court’s extended activity at Versailles during the July monarchy must have brought the two of them to an acquaintance with each other.