A master at capturing sitters in fleeting moments of informality, Jean-Étienne Liotard depicted this unknown sitter possessed with a remarkable degree of warmth and depth. The young woman probably came from the Caribbean and, somehow, found her way to Amsterdam in the mid-18th century. Either she herself commissioned the pastel portrait, pastel was quite popular in the 18th-century, or an artist was taken with her for many of the same reasons we find her so engaging and decided to make this lovely work. Her beautiful pearl necklace and delicate tignon are quite reminiscent of the famous Girl With A Pearl Earring.
