Paintings by Sophie de Tott

This stunning painting is currently for sale in a French gallery and is attributed to Sophie de Tott.

It is described simply as a "female portrait" and according the sale description is identified as her work by a signature "Sophie C. Tesse de Tott" in the lower right. 

    Another website describes the painting as a portrait of Sophie herself but this could be a confusion. People are still so unused to female artists that someone may have jumped to the conclusion that the painter's name was that of the sitter. The costume suggests the period c.1800 when Sophie would have been aged about 42, somewhat older than the sitter appears to be.

Another portrait by de Tott that is reproduced on the internet is that of Maria, Lady Crauford.

This fine imposing painting was displayed at the Royal Academy in London in 1803. It depicts the sitter in the guise of a Sibyl, traditionally portrayed wearing a Turkish style turban and robes. 

Maria Teresa Gage (1762-1832), wife of Sir James Craufurd, Bt. (1761-1839) had met De Tott when her husband was British Consul in Hamburg in the 1790s. The portrait is now in the Gage Collection at Firle Place, Sussex, together with other portraits by De Tott of the Crauford's daughter, and all their four children as a group.

   A third portrait, hitherto unknown, has come for sale in a London showroom.

Entitled simply "Portrait of a Gentleman", it is signed "Sophie C.tesse de Tott" on the right-hand side of the canvas halfway down and dated 1809. Could it be Charles Ferdinand, Duc de Berry, nephew of Louis XVI? We know he was in London at this time with his father the Comte d'Artois, among other French emigrés.

    Here is an earlier portrait of Charles Ferdinand, dating from the 1790s:

 Look at the shape of the florid lips, the rather pointed nose, the heavily-lidded blue eyes, the single frown line between the dark eyebrows, the height of the forehead and the brown curly hair parted in the middle.  They could be the same person, ten years apart.

   And here is a later portrait of the Duc de Berry painted by Gérard in 1820, when he was much older and fatter.

   It is meant to be flattering, and to make him look grand, but I see the same features, the same ears and sideburns, the same little nick in his chin. And the cupid-bow lips.

   The more I compare the images, the more convinced I become that "Portrait of a Gentleman" is the Duc de Berry. After all, Sophie painted his father and his sister-in-law the Duchesse d'Angoulême.

To find out more about Sophie de Tott read

https://www.proantic.com/en/1215932-female-portrait-painted-by-sophie-de-tott-early-19th-century.html

Artist: Sophie-ernestine De Tott ( 1758-1848)
Period: 19th century
Style: Consulat, Empire
Condition: Re-canvas
Material: Oil painting
Length:
Width: 63 cm
Diameter:
Height: 77 cm

Depth:

Reference: 1215932

https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Portrait-of-the-Countess-de-Tott/0E1FB0E3A5FnF444350A61D8AFC8E2658

https://firle.com/maria-teresa-gage/