MET Acquires Portrait of Bengali Nursemaid

March 22 2021

Picture: MET

Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:

News on Instagram (via. @adameaker) that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York have acquired a rare eighteenth century portrait of Joanna de Silva, a Bengali nursemaid, painted by William Wood. Joanna was employed by a family of an officer of the British East India Company and later returned to England with them. This portrait was produced in 1792 when she had arrived in Britain and inscribed with the details above.

The painting was sold at auction in New York last September where it was estimated at $2,000 - $4,000. The acquisition was made possible through the Bequest of Mary Jane Dastich, in memory of her husband, General Frank Dastich, by exchange and Charles B. Curtis Fund, 2020.

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