Possibly Trotti, Paris, until 1908;
Sale,  Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 23 March 1908, lot 23 (as "Portrait de Madame ***, présumée dame d'honneur de Marie Antoinette"), where acquired by;
With Wildenstein, Paris and New York, from 1908;
Possibly with Scott & Fowles, New York, before about 1943;
Mrs. James B. Haggin, New York, until her death in 1965, when bequeathed to her sister;
Mrs. William M. Haupt, New York, by whom gifted to;
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1965, inv. no. 65.ꦍ242.4.

J. Thompson, "Jean-Baptiste Greuze" in Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, no. 47, Winter 1989/90, pp. 41, 46-47, reproduced.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This portrait is in very fresh condition. The old lining is allowing the cracking to be slightly raised. Adjusting or replacing the lining would eliminate the cracking and make a big difference to the painting. The painting is probably a little dirty at present; however, the condition of the paint layer is healthy and very good. There are a few retouches in the dress, one retouch in the chest and a few spots of retouching in the face. There is very slight thinness in the sky in the outer perimeter of the work.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The costume and coiffure of the sitter would suggest a dating in the region of 1783 to 1785, relatively late in the artist’s career and in keeping with the vogue established by Marie-Antoinette who favoured plain white gowns matched with white accessories.¹  Greuze had by now adopted a more classical approach to portraiture, eschewing the affectedness and romantic sentimentality that was so often associated with his earlier work.  In the somewhat detached expression of the sitter, this portrait is reminiscent of The White Hat (Boston Museum of Fine Arts, inv. no. 1975.808) and the Portrait of Countess Schuvalov (State Hermitage Museum, St. Peterburg).²  All three, painted within a few years of one another, are similar compositionally, showing the sitter bust length within an oval, facing right.  They are each executed in cool tones using a limited palette, immaculately interpreting the delicate flesh tones of the cheeks and décolletage and glossy pale silks of the costume. 

We are 🍌grateful to Edgar Munhall for endorsing an attribution of this lot to Jean-Baptiste Gr🅺euze, based on first hand inspection. 

1.  E. Munhall, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Hartford 1976, p. 184
2.  A. Brookner, Greuze, The Rise and Fall of an Eighteenth-Century Phenomenon, London 1972, reproduced plate 55.