Lady in Black Lace

This three-quarter-length portrait depicts a pretty young lady looking coyly over shoulder and finely dressed in a pink silk wide-shouldered gown overlaid with delicate black lace. Her brown ringlets are decorated with pink roses with a further pink rose on her corsage.

Watercolour on paper with canted corners, the portrait is signed along the right edge in gold ‘F Rochard 3.40’. The portrait is professionally laid on card with a gold line border and is unframed.

Born in France, François Théodore Rochard (1798-1858) was the younger of two artistic brothers. He studied in France before moving to London where he exhibited between 1820 and 1855. He attracted a fashionable clientele including royalty. In addition to watercolours, both brothers painted miniatures.