Louisa DuPonceau
1798-1803
Medium
engraving in black on wove paper
Dimensions
image (irregular): 5.56 × 5.56 cm (2 3/16 × 2 3/16 in.) plate: 6.51 × 6.35 cm (2 9/16 × 2 1/2 in.) sheet: 17.46 × 13.18 cm (6 7/8 × 5 3/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection
Accession Number
2015.19.2474
Art Historical Context
Step into the early American republic with *Louisa DuPonceau*, a delicate 1798–1803 engraving by Charles B. J. Févret de Saint-Mémin. intimate profile portrait, measuring just over 2 inches square, captures the young subject's refined features in precise black lines on smooth wove paper. Saint-Mémin, a émigré who arrived in Philadelphia amid the Revolution's aftermath, specialized in such miniature likenesses, blending European engraving finesse with New World portraiture. His innovative technique began with a physiognotrace—a mechanical device that traced sitters' profiles onto paper—followe...
About the Artist
Charles B. J. Févret de Saint-Mémin
**Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin** Born on March 12, 1770, in Dijon, France, to marquis Bénigne-Charles Févret de Saint-Mémin, a former conseiller au Parlement de Bourgogne, and Victoire-Marie de Motmans, a creole from Port-au-Prince, Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin received a military education at the École Militaire in Paris, graduating in 1785. He served as a cad...