Young Woman With Scented Handkerchief

A woman wears a pale blue redingote trimmed with gold buttons and serpentine detailing along the front edges. There are white ruffles at the neck, cuffs, and bodice, and she wears a white fichu. Her underskirt is white with a green stripe at the hem. She wears blue, high-heeled shoes with gold details. She wears a large, blue and white striped bonnet with blue and yellow striped ribbon looped at the crown.

Underneath the bonnet she wears a smaller, simpler, white mobcap with a yellow ribbon at the crown. In her left hand, the woman holds a handkerchief. She seems to be pouring a liquid (possibly a scent or perfume) onto the handkerchief from a pink bottle she holds in her right hand. Written in the lower, left-hand corner is “23.”

Credit: The Claremont Colleges