Bust of a Woman

A. Riffard (late 18th century)
18th century, Terracotta

Unfortunately, we do not know the full name of the artist who produced this compellingly realistic sculpture; all we know of him is that he spent two years in Rome, from 1788 to 1790, and that in 1793 he was a member of the Société Populaire et République des Arts, who signed and dated the Bust of a Man with a Cadogan Hairstyle, the companion to this portrait of an unknown female figure that is also in the collection. The young woman in question features old-fashioned cameos both in the high waistband of her dress, just below the chest, and in the crown on her forehead. Her intricate Greek hairstyle is also fashionable: her hair is fixed at the nape of her neck with a comb and she wears a small crown with three cameos and an artificial feather in the centre. The portrait has been attributed to the mysterious A. Riffard for stylistic reasons and can be dated, like the Bust of a Man with Cadogan Hairstyle, to around 1795. Of note is the way the irises of the eyes are suggested in both works, with successive, small etched marks.