Artwork
H Beard Print Collection
H Beard Print Collection is a print by the Romanticist artist Charles Turner. It dates from 1799 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The work is a full‑length colour stipple engraving portraying a young woman identified as Mademoiselle Parisot.
About this work
Overview
The work is a full‑length colour stipple engraving portraying a young woman identified as Mademoiselle Parisot. She stands in an open landscape, arms raised, holding a curved branch of intertwined flowers, her hair bound with a fabric band.
Subject & Meaning
The figure is dressed in a neoclassical costume that references ancient Greek attire: a pale yellow, hip‑length tunic over a translucent white under‑dress that gathers at the thigh and billows behind her. The pose and floral branch suggest an idealised, pastoral femininity common in early‑19th‑century portraiture.
Technique & Style
Executed in colour stipple engraving, the image achieves tonal variation through fine dots rather than line work, creating a soft chiaroscuro effect. The layering of pigments on the copper plate allows the delicate translucency of the under‑dress to be rendered with subtle gradations of light.
History & Provenance
The print belongs to the Harry Beard collection, a private assemblage of 19th‑century prints. Its attribution to Mademoiselle Parisot, a known society figure of the period, links the image to contemporary fashion and portrait trends.
Context
Neoclassical dress and pastoral settings were fashionable in post‑Napoleonic France, reflecting a revival of classical ideals in visual culture. Stipple engraving, popularized by artists such as Francesco Bartolozzi, provided a means to reproduce delicate tonal effects for a broader audience.
Artist & collection
Artist
Charles Turner (31 August 1774 – 1 August 1857) was an English engraver and draughtsman who specialised in portraiture. He collaborated with J. M. W. Turner (to whom he was not related) on the early plates of the same's Liber Studiorum.
