CATHERINE DA COSTA (1679-1765)

STUDIES OF VARIOUS INSECTS
Signed with the artist's initials within an armorial device u.r. C.C. / F.
Bears inscription to mount l.r. M. da Costa
Tempera on vellum 
 
PROVENANCE:
Possibly Left by the artist in her will to her son, Abraham da Costa (d.1760, London);
By whom left in his will to one of his surviving sisters;
With Galerie Ratton Ladrière, Paris (by 2006), from whom acquired by the present owners;
Private Collection, London
 
 
 
This important work, by the first recorded female Jewish artist in Britain, was sold in 2024 by the Nonesuch Gallery and the Limner Company, and a catalogue co-authored by Tom Mendel and Emma Rutherford is available upon request. 
 
We are grateful to the following for their generous assistance in the preparation of the catalogue: Dr Henrietta Ryan, Dr Kim Sloan, Dr Susan Sloman and Dr Tabitha Barker.