Portrait of a Lady of Elizabeth's Court
Segar was a portrait painter in an age when life-sized portraiture was less in demand than the miniature. Portraits were rarely signed and often produced by a workshop, making it difficult to differentiate between artists or to isolate the work of one particular painter. Highly decorative and two-dimensional, Portrait of a Lady of Elizabeth's Court is less of a likeness than a statement of the lady's immense wealth and social position with her extravagance of jewellery, sumptuous embroidered gown with 'blackwork' embroidery and elaborate ruff. Her identity is as yet uncertain. In her right hand she holds a 'flea fur', probably of marten fur. These were extravagant and costly accessories, valued for their decorative qualities, rather than for their success in apprehending fleas! Our portrait is one of very few depictions of such furs. So far the sitter has resisted identification, in the 19th century she was called Queen Elizabeth I and more recently The Countess of Worchester. She was definitely a woman of some importance with ostentation in dress.
