French School, circa 1815

Painted in France during the opening decades of the nineteenth century, this portrait is likely to depict a female harpist and performer. Several details allude to her proficiency on the instrument, rather than it being a simple prop for allegorical purposes. This includes the rare depiction of the sitter tuning the instrument, rather than playing it, and the detail of the string ends being wound around the back of the tuning pegs. Furthermore, the design of the neck is strikingly similar to those found on harps made by the Parisian maker Jean-Henri Naderman (1735–1799).¹ It is therefore possible that the instrument in this painting was either an heirloom or a later model in the same style.

We are grateful to Sarah Deere-Jones for identifying the musical instrument in this painting.

¹ A harp of 1787 by Naderman, showing a similar design of neck, is found in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O109135/harp-naderman-jean-henri/