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Portrait of a flower painter
(1760s)
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
76.2 × 63.9 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1922
Gallery location
17th to 18th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
The identity of both the painter and subject of this charming portrait has remained elusive. The artwork has at times been attributed to Francis Cotes, Henry Singleton and Johan Zoffany. The design of the table carpet on the right cIosely resembles one that appears in a 1768 portrait by Zoffany. Conversely, the work has also been considered to be a self-portrait of the unidentified painter, who has paused while drawing the vase of flowers on the table. The subject holds a porte-crayon, a metal holder designed to take a crayon or chalk – the precursor of the modern graphite pencil. The porte-crayon was indispensable for artists in the eighteenth century.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
England / Scotland
Accession Number
1250-3
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Dame Carol Colburn-Grigor CBE through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Portraits
Subjects (specific)
armchairs artists (visual artists) backdrops dresses (garments) flower vases portcrayons table carpets women (female humans)