Lot 119: WILLIAM JONES (Anglo-Irish School, Fl 1738-1747)

'The Fortune Teller', depicting a lady in her cabinet, en deshabill‚ ; having the coffee grounds read by an old crone in a red cloak, a maidservant dousing the fire in the next room oil on canvas 62 x 74 cm (24 1/2 x 29 in.) See illustration NOTES A painting by William Jones of an identical subject but with five extra figures in it was offered at Christie's London, 10th November 1995, and by Sotheby's London, 15th November 1997. During the 18th century, fortune telling became a popular form of amusememnt, inevitably giving rise to warnings regarding the morality of such superstitions. Although this painting lacks the cast of ladies in the aforementioned version, the wanton state of the Lady's dress and her prominent and elaborate dressing table as well as her interest in the dark and superstitious old woman's pronouncements, suggest a moral censure on the part of the artist.