An Unknown Lady as a Shepherdess and an Unidentified Enslaved Attendant
Casparus Smits or Smitz (Gaspar Smith) (c.1635 - Dublin 1688/1707)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1662 - 1707
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
653 x 530 mm
Order this imageCollection
Blickling Hall, Norfolk
NT 355544
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, An Unknown Lady as a Shepherdess and an Unidentified Enslaved Attendant by Casparus Smits (Gaspar Smith) (c.1635 - Dublin 1688/1707). A full-length portrait of a white woman wearing a white dress with blue drapery. She rests her left elbow on soft pink fabric draped on a pedestal, behind which stands a Black attendant, wearing a metal collar and pearl-drop earring. Bunches of grapes and two peaches rest atop the draped pedestal which bears a relief with three cherubs. To her right are two sheep and a leafy tree in the background. Smits first operated in London and later in Dublin, specialising in small-scale depictions such as this, particularly of Saint Mary Magdalene, so that he became known as 'Magdalen' Smith. There is a reference to ‘Magdalen’ working in Painter Stainers’ Hall in 1662. He was also a restorer and picture dealer. Walpole noted that: 'His flowers and fruit were so much admired, that one bunch of grapes sold …. for £40' . Note on the Unidentified Enslaved Attendant: That the attendant figure is of African descent wearing a metal collar indicates he was enslaved. It is not known if the attendant was included by the artist as a trope or as a portrait of a real individual.
Provenance
Part of the Lothian Collection. The hall and contents were bequeathed to the National Trust by Philip, 11th Marquess of Lothian (1882-1940).
Credit line
Blickling Hall, The Lothian Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Casparus Smits or Smitz (Gaspar Smith) (c.1635 - Dublin 1688/1707) , artist