Mrs. Caroline Deas 1755 - 1765

Curator: This is a portrait drawing of Mrs. Caroline Deas, created by John Smart sometime between 1755 and 1765. It is a delicate piece rendered in pencil and dry media, and it resides here at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: She's lovely, but seems caught in a thought. There’s an almost translucent quality to the drawing itself, which adds to this ethereal mood, like she's a whisper from another century. Curator: Portrait miniatures such as these were fashionable in the 18th century, especially among the emerging merchant classes wanting to emulate aristocratic traditions of portraiture but on a smaller scale and more portable fashion. Editor: Imagine carrying her around with you! She’s the picture in your locket… a face you carry into battle, onto a ship, a silent guardian of home. Talk about portable love! I wonder what Mrs. Deas was really like, outside this perfect rendering. Curator: Well, portraits like these also operated within systems of exchange, familial and political networks. Perhaps this was commissioned for a marriage negotiation or to cement an alliance. Mrs. Deas’s likeness here is meant to communicate specific virtues—piety, modesty, perhaps some intelligence—to its intended audience. Editor: And yet, those slightly downturned eyes… they speak of something beyond societal expectation. A secret garden, maybe? I see a tension between who she is asked to be and who she perhaps truly feels herself to be. What stories are hiding just beneath that tightly-laced bodice? Curator: I appreciate that perspective, it underscores the value of close looking. Art historical readings of portraiture can sometimes ignore this interplay of human and ideological representation. But there it is so evident and carefully constructed! Editor: Indeed. This image stays with you after you see it. It has this incredible staying power because it is much more than simply what she looks like or if she presents herself attractively, in this era she might even say fashionably. Curator: A beautiful convergence of then and now. Thank you for lending your insights! Editor: It’s always a pleasure! Now, who's next? I'm in the mood to read some more faces.