Samuel CooperBritish, 1609–1672An Unknown Woman
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “An Unknown Woman” now? Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Not on view at present. Checked September 25, 2026.
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
This miniature painting is one of a group of 17th-century unfinished miniatures on tablets of vellum originally interleaved into the blank pages of a leather-bound book traditionally called ‘Samuel Cooper's Pocket Book’. This book was acquired by the V&A in 1892, when all the works were believed to be by Samuel Cooper. It is now agreed that four are by Cooper and the other ten, except one, are by Susannah Penelope Rosse. These are self-portraits and portraits of family and neighbours. Like most artists, Cooper left a number of unfinished miniatures in his studio when he died. These were eagerly sought after by art collectors such as King Charles II and the Florentine Cosimo III, who admired the direct, graphic quality of these works by such an internationally renowned artist.
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It is possible that this ‘Pocket Book’ actually belonged to Susannah Rosse and her husband, Michael Rosse, a wealthy jeweller. Susannah Rosse was the daughter of Cooper's fellow miniaturist, Richard Gibson, and she grew up in London only a few streets from Cooper’s house. She admired Cooper's work, and the sale of Michael Rosse's collection of art in 1723, over 20 years after Susannah's death, included original works by Cooper and also acknowledged copies of Cooper by Mrs Rosse. Examples such as this, one of Cooper's unfinished works, would have allowed Susannah Rosse to study closely Cooper's technique.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Details
- Accession number
- 448-1892
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
