Portrait of a Woman

English · c. 1730/40

Medium

Oil on copper

Original size

12.4 × 9.8 cm (4 7/8 × 3 7/8 in.); Framed: 12.4 × 9.8 cm (4 7/8 × 3 7/8 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Baroque

This intimate portrait embodies the quiet elegance of Georgian England, its subject rendered with a directness and warmth rarely achieved in formal portraiture of the period. By the 1730s, English portrait painting occupied a fascinating middle ground — drawing on the refined Flemish tradition while beginning to articulate its own character, rooted in psychological observation over courtly grandeur. What distinguishes this particular work is its support: oil on copper, a demanding and costly choice that rewards slow, deliberate technique. Copper's non-absorbent surface allows paint to sit with exceptional clarity, producing the luminous skin tones and crisp textile detail that give the sitter an almost uncanny presence. The anonymity of the artist — recorded simply as "English" — places this work among a large body of accomplished portraiture produced outside the fashionable London studios, where skilled painters served provincial and merchant-class clients with genuine care. Copper supports were sometimes chosen precisely for their durability, intended to outlast canvas and preserve a likeness across generations — a concern that speaks to how seriously these commissions were taken. Our hand-painted oil reproduction honours that same intention, recreating every subtle gradation of the original on canvas with the attention to tone and detail that this quiet, enduring portrait deserves.