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 previous 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.