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Massard, J - portrait of young lady

This miniature portrait of a young lady is signed indistinctly, but the name appears to be J Massard. Unusually, it is fully dated 18 August 1831.

She is wearing mutton-chop sleeves and the precise date is a valuable guide to clothing and hair styles fashionable in France in 1831.

Nathalie Lemoine-Bouchard lists;
MASSARD Jean Marie Raphaël Léopold (Crouy-sur-Ourcq, 29 janvier 1812 – Paris, 13 mars 1889), but no miniatures by him are known for comparison.

In 1831 he would have been aged 19, so it is possible it is an early work by him, but the precise date of the signature here (day and year) tends to indicate an amateur artist.

Therefore it has been suggested it would be preferable at this stage to list this miniature as a previously unrecorded French artist;
J. Massard, active in 1831, that is separate from the first one. 1429

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