Portrait of Mary Sabina (b 1736)
Object numberRCSSC/P 256
CollectionSpecial collections
CategoryVisual works
Object namePiebaldism, Oil paintings, Portraits
TitlePortrait of Mary Sabina (b 1736)
DescriptionA full length portrait of Mary Sabina, a native of Matuna, unsigned, c.1744.
The subject is a young black child standing in an open landscape. Large parts of her legs and chest, her chin and a cross-shaped patch on her forehead are white while the rest of her skin is dark brown. She wears a white loin cloth, jewellery at her wrists, neck and ears and holds a parrot on her left hand. The inscription reads 'The True Picture of Mary-Sabina, who was born Octr 12, 1736 at Matuna, a Plantation belonging to ye Iesuits in ye City of Cartagena in America of two Negroe Slaves named Martiniano and Patrona'.
The girl in the portrait had piebaldism, sometimes referred to as partial albinism. This portrait was said to have been captured while on its way from America to England by a French privateer in 1746. It is believed to have been in the collection of the eminent French natural historian Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788) and a version of it appeared in his 'Histoire Naturelle' of 1777. The subsequent history of the painting is unknown. It was purchased in London by Sir Erasmus Wilson in 1868 and donated to the College. Another copy is in the collection of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, USA
Production date 1745
Sitter/subject
presented
Physical Location
Location
Not on public display: contact museum for access conditions
Physical Information
Physical descriptionOil on canvas, 75cm by 62cm.
Bibliography
SourceMazzolini 2003
NotesReview of the paintings in Williamsburg and the RCS, together with the engraving made for Buffon.
SourceDobson 1958b
NotesArticle by Jessie Dobson on the history of the portrait of Mary Sabina.