id: 120837 accession number: 1941.561 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1941.561 updated: Portrait of a Woman , late 1790s. Andrew Plimer (British, 1763–1837). Watercolor on ivory in a gold frame with glazed reverse; framed: 8.5 x 7.2 cm (3 3/8 x 2 13/16 in.); sight: 8 x 6.5 cm (3 1/8 x 2 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Edward B. Greene Collection 1941.561 title: Portrait of a Woman title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: late 1790s creation date earliest: 1795 creation date latest: 1799 current location: creditline: The Edward B. Greene Collection copyright: --- culture: England, 18th -19th century technique: watercolor on ivory in a gold frame with glazed reverse department: European Painting and Sculpture collection: P - British before 1800 type: Portrait Miniature find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Andrew Plimer (British, 1763–1837) - artist Born the sons of a clockmaker, Nathaniel Plimer and his younger brother Andrew initially trained in their father's profession, although they grew restless with this trade, and ran off to live with Gypsies for two years. By 1781, they were together in London, and determined to practice art. Both took up residence with established artists. Nathaniel worked as a servant to the enamellist, Henry Bone, whereas Andrew became the valet to the portrait and miniature painter, Richard Cosway. Cosway discovered Andrew copying one of his miniatures and introduced him to miniature painting. Andrew assimilated his master's airy execution and adapted Cosway's linear brushwork which leaves much of the bare ivory visible. He also employed Cosway's use of large, expressive eyes which made his miniatures appear soulfully elegant, earning him high praise amongst legions of admirers. A quick study, Andrew set up his own studio by 1786 and he exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy of Arts from 1786-1830. Andrew Plimer's works fall into two phases. In the first, his sitters appear more naturalistically rendered than those painted after around 1789. During the earlier period he frequently included his initials, "A.P.," on the front of the miniature, followed by a date. By contrast, he did not sign or date works in the second phase. Furthermore, in Andrew's second phase of work, he reduced his palette and perhaps due to his high output, sitters share many visual characteristics; in particular, his women have elongated necks, long noses and large appealing eyes. --- measurements: Framed: 8.5 x 7.2 cm (3 3/8 x 2 13/16 in.); Sight: 8 x 6.5 cm (3 1/8 x 2 9/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Intimate Images: Portrait Miniatures from Europe and America opening date: 1993-03-26T04:00:00 Intimate Images: Portrait Miniatures from Europe and America. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 26-October 17, 1993). title: Disembodied: Portrait Minatures and their Contemporary Relatives opening date: 2013-11-10T00:00:00 Disembodied: Portrait Minatures and their Contemporary Relatives. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 10, 2013-February 16, 2014). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (Leopold C. Davis, London, England, sold to Edward B. Greene.) date: -1927 footnotes: citations: Edward B. Greene (1878-1957), Cleveland, OH date: 1927-1941 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1941- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: A sticker attached to the back says “Countess Orford"; however, the sitter cannot be her since the Earl of Orford died without issue in 1797 and the title expired with his death. digital description: wall description: This unknown sitter has greenish-gray eyes and curly brown hair falling to the back of her neck. She wears a white lace-bordered mob cap with a bow at the top and ruffle under the chin. Her brown dress of dotted Swiss cotton has a narrow white collar. Handwoven during this period, dotted Swiss was a delicate fabric used for summer dresses. Both the Swiss dot gown and the mob cap give the sitter a casual, country air at odds with the approaching vogue for dressing in a style more classically inspired. The background sky is light blue and gray, with crosshatching increasingly worked increasingly close to the figure. The color palette is confined to browns and muddy blues. This miniature, painted close to 1800, is a charming example of Andrew Plimer’s doll aesthetic, seen in the sitter’s round face, tiny mouth, and large eyes. Plimer was an extremely prolific artist, which helps account for the fact that many of his female sitters look alike. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art. Portrait Miniatures ; The Edward B. Greene Collection. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1951. page number: Reproduced: p. 29, no. 30, pl. XXII url: https://archive.org/details/PortraitMiniatures/page/n69 Cleveland Museum of Art, and Alan Chong. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993. page number: p. 300 url: Korkow, Cory, and Dario Robleto. Disembodied: Portrait Miniatures and Their Contemporary Relatives. 2013. page number: Mentioned: p.83, Reproduced: p.76 url: Korkow, Cory, and Jon L. Seydl. British Portrait Miniatures: The Cleveland Museum of Art. 2013. page number: Cat. no. 57, pp. 226-228 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1941.561/1941.561_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1941.561/1941.561_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1941.561/1941.561_full.tif