Portrait of a Woman

Although her black dress and lack of jewelry suggests the understated fashion of the very pious, this woman’s pelerine and cap display the delicate embroidery that was in vogue in the first half of the nineteenth century. The sitter’s enthusiasm for Fancy is further revealed in the multi-layered window covering—a patterned roller shade (probably covered with wallpaper), netting-trimmed curtain, and drapery held back with a pressed brass cloak pin.