Portrait of a Young Woman
Colorful Madras fabric and blonde hair may appear innocent, but historical awareness of their meanings in the 1790s alerts us to how this sitter has foregrounded her whiteness during a period rife with the racialized terms of colonial struggle. The fabric, imported from India, was part of the Triangular Trade and worn frequently by Black women in the West Indies (Caribbean); in Paris, white women adopted it as a deliberately provocative flirtation with these horrible realities. Her hair is probably a blonde wig, which was highly popular for a short period around 1795 and was a means of doubling down on racialized whiteness as she cruelly played on the visual culture of the enslaved labor that sustained the French economy.
Artwork Details
- Title: Portrait of a Young Woman
- Artist: Attributed to Jean Antoine Laurent (French, 1763–1832)
- Date: ca. 1795
- Medium: Ivory
- Dimensions: Octagonal, 2 3/8 x 2 7/8 in. (63 x 73 mm)
- Classification: Miniatures
- Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Louis V. Bell, in memory of her husband, 1925
- Object Number: 25.106.16
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings
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