Portrait Miniature Of A Lady In Blue Dress With Tulle Ruffled Collar, Restoration C.1820

Portrait miniature of a lady in blue dress with tulle ruffled collar, Restoration c.1820

Miniature round portrait depicting a lady with dark hair and blue eyes, datable with good precision around 1820, during the Restoration period, in the transitional phase between late Empire taste and early 1820s fashion.

The hairstyle shows a clear centre parting, with symmetrical curls arranged on the forehead and at the temples, and a high chignon at the back, typical of women’s fashion circa 1815–1825.

The sitter wears a pale blue dress, still close to Empire lines but already updated by gigot sleeves, fuller at the upper arm and more fitted below, a detail that becomes established precisely around 1818–1822. A distinctive tulle ruffled collar, built in layered folds of tulle and lace, frames the bodice and recalls a carefully draped fichu de tulle.

The jewellery completes the ensemble: a necklace of white pearls, likely freshwater pearls, with a cross pendant, and drop earrings suggesting diamonds or, more probably, rock crystal, highly appreciated in early 19th-century jewellery.

Overall, a portrait strongly representative of bourgeois European fashion around 1820, with precise attention to costume and ornamental details.