Adam Buck
Portrait of a Woman

ArtistIrish, 1759–1833
CultureIrish
Titles
  • Portrait of a Woman
Date1805
MediumWatercolor on ivory, gilt, and glass
DimensionsOverall: 3 1/8 × 2 3/4 in. (7.9 × 7 cm)
Credit LineThe Rienzi Collection, bequest of Caroline A. Ross
Object number2005.1631
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Rienzi
Description

Irish artist Adam Buck was deeply interested in classical Greek and Roman vase painting. To give a Neoclassical feeling to this miniature, his subject is shown in elegant profile on a draped chaise.


The vividly colored, almost stormy sky, balances the cool sensuality of the languid figure. The woman in this portrait wears the revealing neoclassical attire made popular at Napoleon´s court. Her sleeveless white gown, held at the shoulder with a Wedgwood cameo brooch, and her loose gather of curls à l´antique, were the height of fashion in the early 1800s.


 


Provenance[Earle D. Vandekar, New York, Collection of Edward Grosvenor Paine, Primrose Plantation, Oxford, lot 19]; purchased by Caroline Ross, October 15, 1996; bequeathed to MFAH, 2005.
Exhibition History"Love Tokens: Portrait Miniatures from the Caroline A. Ross Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 3, 2007-March 3, 2008.

"Ireland: Art on a World Stage, 1690-1840," Art Institute of Chicago, March 17–June 7, 2015

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Portrait of a Woman
Unknown
19th century
Watercolor on ivory, gilt, and glass
2005.1650
Portrait of a Woman
Unknown
c. 1820
Watercolor on ivory, gilt, and glass
2005.1660
Box with Portrait of a Woman
Charles Hénard
c. 1785
Watercolor on ivory, gilt, tortoiseshell, and glass
2005.1619
Portrait of a Couple
Unknown
c. 1900
Watercolor on ivory, gilt, and glass
2005.1680
Patch Box with Portrait of a Woman
Unknown Scottish
c. 1780
Watercolor on ivory, gilt-copper, and glass
2005.1594.A,.B
Portrait of a Woman
Unknown
c. 1880–1910
Watercolor on ivory, gilt, and glass
2005.1623
Portrait of a Woman
Unknown French
c. 1780–1790
Watercolor on ivory, gilt, hair, and glass
2005.1610
Portrait of a Girl
Mrs. Moses B. Russell
c. 1845
Watercolor on ivory, gilt, and glass
2005.1632
Portrait of a Child
Richard Schwager
1865
Watercolor on ivory, gilt, fabric, and glass
2005.1612
Nathaniel Rogers
c. 1820
Watercolor on ivory in gilt frame with brass mat
2018.467
Portrait of a Woman
Mrs. Moses B. Russell
c. 1845
Watercolor on ivory, gilt, and glass
2008.240
Portrait of a Woman
Unknown French
c. 1819
Watercolor on ivory, 18k yellow gold, hair, and glass
2005.1648