Antique French Portrait Miniature, 3/4 Pose, Woman in White Bonnet and Dress, Norwegian Cross Jewelry
Late 1700s to as late as 1830, this woman in her white dress and shawl, elaborate bonnet and her slightly skeptical look always makes me wonder what her personality might have been like. The frame is typical of period French paintings, and she might be from northern France where elaborate styles in lace caps and bonnets were popular, particularly for matrons. There are other things that are quite unique about her. In this one miniature, it is very obvious to me that the artist sketched all but her face, which he/she painted in full and then left to fill in all the rest of the painting. Do you see it, too? Another thing is her jewelry; the particular type of jeweled cross you see is quite common from that era from Northern European and Scandinavian regions, and mostly is referred to as Norwegian. You can find those jewelry items still today among antique jewelry. So I wonder if she was a skeptical Norwegian who traveled. Last bit of information: I purchased her out of Russia, ages ago.