Louis-Roland Trinquesse

Trinquesse produced a sizable body of red chalk drawings of women in elegant dress, posed in interiors, sometimes with a chair, seated on a sofa, or at a writing desk. He depicted single figures in thoughtful poses as well as pairs of figures in conversation. Based on inscriptions, Jean Cailleux identified three of the models used for this group of studies as Marianne Franmery, Louise Charlotte Marini, and Louise-Elizabeth Bain. While we may know their names, little else is known about Trinquesse's sitters. The drawings are roughly dated between 1771 and 1797, the years the artist was active in Paris, having become a student at the Royal Academy in 1770. It is not entirely clear which model posed for the present sheet, given the title of her head and that her hairstyle is largely obscured by her bonnet.
The function of these studies of fashionably dressed models is elusive. In this sheet, a young woman sits precariously on the edge of a narrow rectangular table, her head turned toward the spectator, supporting herself in this unstable position with her left hand. She wears a hip-length jacket, or caraco, which was in common at-home garb in the 1780s.