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Les Demoiselles d'Orville

Maker Richard Cosway (British, 1742-1821)

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Dateca. 1785

Mediumwatercolor on ivory

Dimensions2 3/8 x 2 3/8 in. (6 x 6 cm.)

DescriptionPortrait miniature housed in locket bordered with pearls

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

Not on view

Label TextThe two sitters for this portrait were the daughters of Constant d'Orville, a famous French playwright. The young woman on the right appears as Flora, represented by roses in her hair, and, the demoiselle on the left, masquerades as the goddess Diana, symbolized by the crescent perched on top of her head. This miniature may portray the two girls in the costumes worn at a masquerade. The dress of the two girls follow the fashions of the day, so that only the addition of a few attributes was required to suggest the fantasy of role playing.

Object number26.30