Signature at edge approximately 4-5 o'clock spot, and appears to be "Isbey". Certainly in the French School manner, 1700s.
A portrait of an alluring young Mistress, no doubt, her gown pulled to expose her bust, her smiling eyes and mouth, and the outfit consistent with her time, c.1770s, A courier or Mistress of a courtier during the reign of ill-fated French King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette.
Very good to excellent for age and type. Frame is excellent, a top quality worked brass mat and slightly convex period original cover glass, undamaged. No chips nor cracks on the painting's thin natural wafer. The wafer is large, shows the effects of a careless cover glass cleaning, the halo of seeped moisture at edges, but the painting is exceptionally fine in detail and beauty. Sealed from behind, we don't know who this lady is. It is possible there might be more information within. The original hanging hardware lacks the loop, but a later addition apparatus on back makes her ready to hang. These are wonderful as art in your antique Bru doll's doll house, as you know.
