Lot 573
Spanish Colonial School, late 18th c., "Portrait of a Court Lady", oil on canvas, unsigned, 19 1/2 in. x 13 3/4 in., in a cove-molded ebonized and gilt frame made by The Medici Society, London (per label en verso, bearing royal warrant of the late 1930s). Note: The noble subject of this severe but humane portrait wears a red sash (similar to that of a chivalric Order) pinned with a royal badge which bears a double-headed eagle, a large crown, and the interlaced letters MA (or AM) HR, the latter probably standing for "Hispania Regina". She might thus represent a Queen, a Queen Mother, the Consort of a Viceroy, or even a noble attendant of high rank, such as a lady-in-waiting. Her gown with its integral shawl is identical to dresses detailed in Mexican paintings of 1791 and 1797 (the latter tied with another prominent red ribbon), while her voluminous wig and extraordinary hat have much in common with those in the contemporaneous portraits of the celebrated Puerto Rican painter Jose Campeche (1751-1809), especially one of c. 1792.
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