Joanna Law Rumbold

Lady Joanna Rumbold,
Watercolor on ivory

Status

Not on view

Label Text

This portrait of Joanna Law Rumbold (1755-1823) was likely created for her brother Thomas Law before his departure in 1794 for America, where he married Martha Washington’s eldest surviving granddaughter, Elizabeth Parke Custis, in 1796.

The miniature is almost certainly by the British artist and Royal Academician Richard Cosway (1742-1821). Given Lady Rumbold’s elevated position in society, it is likely that she would have sat for such a fashionable artist. She was also painted in 1777 by Joshua Reynolds, and her husband by Thomas Gainsborough and George Romney.

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Subject Joanna Law Rumbold (British, 1755 - 1823)

Artist Richard Cosway (British)

Geography Made - England

Medium/TechniqueWatercolor on ivory; glass; copper alloy; leather, paper

DimensionsOverall: 2 3/8 in. × 2 3/4 in. (6.03 cm × 6.99 cm)

Credit LineAcquired through the generosity of Mrs. William S. (Jeanie) Kilroy, Sr., 2008

Object numberH-4832

DescriptionAn oval, bust-length miniature portrait of Joanna, Lady Rumbold. She is shown three-quarters turned to the proper left, and looking out and to the proper right to the viewer. Lady Rumbold wears a fanciful costume with a winged collar and decorative chains of pearls. The colors of her dress--shades of white and cream accented with pale ochre and opaque white, and a dark band at the bust--are echoed in her powdered blond hair. Lady Rumbold’s delicate, alabaster skin, nearly the ivory color of the background clouds, is complemented by berry-red lips and vivid blue eyes. Her large eyes, in turn, echo the blue in the sky behind her.
The miniature is housed within a case of red morocco leather; there is a very thin band of copper alloy which surrounds the miniature itself. The backing paper is not encased.

SignedThere is a slight suggestion of a signature and date at the right side, but they are indecipherable under close examination.
Published ReferencesJulie Aronson and Marjorie E. Weisman, PERFECT LIKENESS: EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN PORTRAIT MINIATURES FROM THE CINCINATTI ART MUSEUM (New Haven: Yale, 2006), 128-131. (General Reference)

Stephen Lloyd, RICHARD COSWAY (London: Unicorn Press, 2005). (General Reference)

Stephen Lloyd, RICHARD AND MARIA COSWAY: REGENCY ARTISTS OF TASTE AND FASHION (Exh. Cat.: Edinburgh: Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1995), cat. 76. (General Reference)

Daphne Foskett, MINIATURES: A DICTIONARY AND GUIDE (Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors Club, 1987), 356-364. (General Reference)

Catalogue of the Loan Exhibition Under the Auspices of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America,” The Octagon, Washington, D.C., April 17 – April 21, 1906. (Number 450.)

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