Charlotte, Baroness Anselm de Rothschild (1807-1859)
Order image © All images subject to copyright
Three-quarter length portrait of Baroness Charlotte Anselm de Rothschild. Charlotte is seated with her body facing the right, her hands in her lap, and her head turned to the viewer. She wears her brown hair up in a high bun, with curls either side of her face; a white low-cut dress with gauze sleeves; a heavy gold chain with jewels over her shoulders; and thick gold and jewel bracelets.The back of a red upholstered chair is visible behind her, along with a purple drape and patterned cloth on which she sits. To the right, gold material drapes down from a pillar, with a flowery plant in a stone pot behind. The background is scumbled to suggest sky.
Baroness Charlotte Anselm de Rothschild was the mother of Waddesdon's creator, Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. Ary Scheffer depicts her as a young woman, fashionably dressed and adorned with expensive jewellery, against a loosely painted backdrop. It was made shortly after Charlotte married, perhaps for her father.
Charlotte was the eldest daughter of Baron Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777-1836), the founder of the London branch of the Rothschild family. In 1826, she married her cousin Baron Anselm de Rothschild (1803-1874) of Vienna. They had eight children. Ferdinand was their sixth child and second surviving son. Charlotte was a keen artist herself and painted her family's portrait in 1838.
Ary Scheffer was born in Dordrecht, but moved to Paris in 1812, when he became a pupil of Pierre-Narcisse Guérin (1774-1833). Although prominent in the romantic movement, his style was predominently classicist. He had a large practice as a Society portrait painter. Around 1826, he became drawing master to the children of Louis-Philippe, later King of France. The scumbled backdrop was often used by Scheffer, an easy solution for portraits posed in the studio. However, here the addition of a curtain and flowers suggests Charlotte is sitting near a window and has turned towards a visitor.
Scheffer often used this pose for his portraits of women using similar hair and clothes styles. A possibly related drawing is in the Dordrechts Museum, traditionally identified as showing Princess Héléne d'Orléans, but without certainty. The sitters are remarkably similar in hair and facial features, though the clothes and pose differ.
Scheffer was the preferred portrait painter of the Parisian-based Baron James de Rothschild (1792-1868) who liked artists associated with royal patrons and official projects. He commissioned Scheffer to paint portraits of his daughter Charlotte (1825-1899) in 1828, 1836 and 1842 (Prevost-Marcilhacy). This painting may have been that commissioned by Nathan of his daughter Charlotte, also in 1828. Nathan may have been inspired by James's tastes. We do not know how the painting came into Ferdinand's possession.
Phillippa Plock, 2011
Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)
1002 x 705
990 x 690 - sight
Signature & date
signed, lower left: A: Scheffer
Marks
A. OT POZ Eleve de
Mr. BELOT
Rue de la Michodiere
No. 2 A Paris
Stamp
verso on cavas, ink stamp
Labels
Baroness Anselm de Rothschild
1827
Ary Scheffer 1795-1858
Label
on frame, lower centre
Provenance
- Possibly commissioned by Nathan Mayer de Rothschild (b.1777, d.1836) in 1828; acquired by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (b.1839, d.1898), possibly by inheritance; inherited by his sister Alice de Rothschild (b.1847, d.1922); 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.
Exhibition history
- Exposition Scheffer, Paris, 1859, no. 15
Collection
- Waddesdon (National Trust)
- Gift of Dorothy de Rothschild, 1971
Bibliography
- Ellis Waterhouse, Anthony Blunt; Paintings: The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; Fribourg; Office du Livre, The National Trust; 1967; p. 164, cat. no. 69, ill. p. 10
- Leo Ewals; Ary Scheffer: sa vie et son oeuvre; Nijmegen; Katholieke Universiteit te Nijmegen; 1987; pp. 427-428
- Pauline Prevost-Marcilhacy; Les Rothschilds, bâtisseurs et mécènes; Paris; Flammarion; 1995; p. 39; discusses a painting of Charlotte by Scheffer, commissioned by Nathan Mayer de Rothschild in 1828, possibly this work.
Subject person
- Charlotte, Baroness Anselm de Rothschild, Sitter