La dévideuse by Jean Georges Wille. 81.6, NHS Collection.
On May 31, 2013 NHS posted a Found blog entry regarding a sketch donated to the Society in the 1980s by Sarah Smith. At the time of that blog post, we knew nothing more about the sketch, except we suspected it may have been copied from a painting.
The mystery of the sketch has since been solved. A former NHS staff member was recently touring a 17th century house in Scotland where she spotted a print depicting a woman reading, and the style reminded her of our “Pencil Sketch of a Woman.” She did a little research and discovered that the print was by engraver Jean Georges Wille, and part of a series made after works of Gerard Dou, a 17th century Dutch painter. Our “Pencil Sketch of a Woman” was drawn from La Dévideuse, another print in the series. Click here to see the record for the print at the British Museum.
Many thanks to Jennifer Robinson for her excellent eye spotting a print that reminded her of a sketch she found over three years ago at NHS!