An Unknown Woman, formerly called Queen Anne of Denmark
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Three-quarter length portrait of an unknown woman, formerly thought to be Queen Anne of Denmark.
The woman faces slightly to the left. She looks down to the lower right. Her hands rest in front of her upper thighs. Her brown-red hair is in a high hairstyle trimmed with protruding pink ribbons and a three-drop pearl jewel that rests on her hair. She wears several rings, a bracelet, earrings and a bead necklace around her neck, which meets at the throat and trails down her front. She has a projecting stiff transparent collar and a circular highly-patterned stiff lace ruff worn at the base of her neck. She wears a white chemise under a black low-cut dress with a tight bodice. The neckline and shoulders of the dress are trimmed with large pink ribbons tied in rosettes. The bodice is decorated with pink and gold edging and seed pearls. She wears a large circular jewel on her left shoulder surmounted by a pleated scallop-shaped red, white and blue ribbon. Around her left wrist she wears a ring tied to a similar patterned ribbon.
The style of this woman's dress and hair indicates the sitter is an English or Scottish lady from around 1610-1615. It was thought to show Anne of Denmark, the queen consort of James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, Scotland and Ireland. However, comparison with known portraits of Anne make this identification unlikely.
The painting may show Anne of Denmark's daughter Elizabeth, who became Queen of Bohemia in 1613. An inscription on the verso does read 'Elizabeth', however this may refer to Elizabeth I of England. The salmon pink bows make this woman's outfit particularly striking. The two rings that she wears around her wrist may have some significance. The painting may have been made to attract a potential suitor for this grand noblewoman.
Phillippa Plock, 2012
Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)
953 x 813
Signature & date
not signed or dated
Inscriptions
Elizabeth
Inscription
on verso, painted on back of panel
Labels
[Colnaghi?]
Label
on verso, canvas, pasted to panel (noted in object file)
- 865 / HS/E/ - / H cx
Label
on verso, upper centre, pasted on parquetting
19777
Label
on verso, upper left, blue edged label
Provenance
- Owned by P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. Ltd; acquired by Alice de Rothschild (b.1847, d.1922) from P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. Ltd in May 1909 for £50 as 'Queen Anne of Denmark by Van Somer'; inherited by her great-nephew James de Rothschild (b.1878, d.1957); inherited by his wife Dorothy de Rothschild (b.1895, d.1988); given to Waddesdon (National Trust) in 1971.
Collection
- Waddesdon (National Trust)
- Gift of Dorothy de Rothschild, 1971
Related files
- http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait.php?search=ss&firstRun=true&sText=Anne+of+Denmark&LinkID=mp00110&page=1&rNo=2&role=sit [portrait of Anne of Denmark, accessed 21 January 2010]
- http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait.php?search=ss&firstRun=true&sText=Anne+of+Denmark&LinkID=mp00110&page=1&rNo=2&role=sit [portrait of Anne of Denmark, accessed 21 January 2010]
Subject person
- Anne of Denmark, Previous identification
- Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, possibly pictured
Person as Subject
Subjects
- Figures/Female
- Portraits/Female
- Objects/Clothing & Personal Effects/Lace Collar or Ruff
- Objects/Clothing & Personal Effects/Jewellery
- Objects/Clothing & Personal Effects/Tall Hairstyle
- Objects/Clothing & Personal Effects/Dress
- Work & Occupations/Social Rank/Nobility
- Decorative Motifs & Patterns/Flower Motifs