Portrait of a Woman 

Joshua Reynolds painted this “Portrait of a Woman” with oil paint on canvas, a typical choice for eighteenth-century portraiture. Reynolds aimed to elevate his sitters, and in this work, the materiality of clothing plays a key role. Look at the rich, tactile quality of the blue fabric draped over the woman's shoulders. It imitates velvet, a material that spoke of luxury and status. And the ermine trim isn’t just decoration; it proclaims a specific societal position. Consider the labor involved. The materials themselves—the pigments, the fine textiles—were commodities traded across continents. Reynolds and his studio would have collaborated with tailors, seamstresses, and merchants to construct this image. While ostensibly a fine art object, the painting shares much with the world of fashion and commerce. It encourages us to see the labor and social context embedded in this seemingly straightforward portrait.