Mrs Leonard

This fine portrait was painted in 1797 during a period when, despite many personal traumas including the death of his six-year-old daughter, Richard Cosway produced some of his best work. The 1790s was also a pivotal time for fashion as lighter weight fabrics were more readily available and styles moved towards the simpler lines associated with the Regency period. Cosway had an eye for fashion details and almost certainly influenced his sitters’ colour and style choices.

In this portrait Mrs Leonard is shown wearing a cornflower blue and white dress with a fichu cover-up for modesty. Her abundant curls are secured with a matching blue bandeau and topped with a light kerchief that is knotted her chin.

Painted in Cosway’s typical palette of pastel shades, the portrait is fully signed and dated on the backing card ‘Rdus Cosway / R. A. / Primarius Pictor / Serenissimi Walliae / Principis / Pinxt: / 1797’. It is set in an attractive gold frame with a border of seed pearls, the reverse engraved ‘Mrs Leonard’ and glazed to reveal the artist’s flamboyant signature.

Ivory Exemption Ref.: WXMD4PLJ