signed, dated and inscribed ‘C.J. Thuret July 1821/ naar de natuur (verso) and ‘Pauvre oiseau! Quel triste sort! Shagrin a causé ta mort’ (recto)
point of the brush and watercolour, fragmentary watermark ‘Jan.’
24.6 x 19.4 cm

Until the end of the 19th century, it was exceptionally difficult for female artists to receive formal artistic training, let alone to establish themselves as independent artists. Women were generally not permitted to exhibit their work at official exhibitions nor were they accepted as members at one of the many artists’ societies that existed in the Netherlands. The artists’ society Sint Lucas, which was part of the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam, for example, only allowed women to become a member from 1880 and the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in The Hague only allowed female members from 1872. It is therefore not surprising that so few works by female artists from before the mid-19th century have survived and that so little is known about their makers.
The present group of drawings by Christina Jacoba Thuret which only surfaced recently therefore is of considerable significance, for it introduces an otherwise entirely unknown artist. Details of Thuret’s life are scarce, but archival material does shed some light on her biography. Christina Jacoba was born on 24 February 1793 in Amsterdam to Anna Maria Pool and Jean Daniel Thuret, who was a merchant in Weesp. She had two sisters, Cornelia Jacoba (born on 27 November 1796) and Susanna Joanna (born on 7 November 1797). According to the bevolkingsregister from 1851-1853, she lived on the Herengracht 426 in Amsterdam with her sisters. When she died in 1871, her death certificate records that she died in Haarlem and that she was unmarried and without an occupation.
The present group of drawings by Christina Jacoba is in part characteristic of what well-to-do amateur draughtsmen and draughtswomen produced in the first half of the 19th century (at least in terms of subject matter), yet it stands out for its quality of draughtsmanship. The present drawing, and the next, demonstrate Thuret’s sharp observation of, and interest in, the natural world. They furthermore show Thuret’s exceptional control of the brush and watercolour- one of the most difficult drawing techniques. The present drawing, which shows a dead barn swallow hanging on a rope, beautifully demonstrates Thuret’s skill at rendering textures. With very delicate brushwork the artist managed to depict even the most minute feathers on the bird’s breast. Underneath the drawing, Thuret wrote ‘Pauvre oiseau! Quel triste sort! Shagrin a causé ta mort.’ (Poor bird! What a sad fate! Grief has caused your death).