Sampson Towgood Roch

This portrait was painted at the very tail end of the eighteenth century and shows a young lady in a simple white cross-over gown with a frilled neckline and cuffed sleeves. Her light brown hair has been partly plaited with curls arranged over her forehead and tumbling down over her shoulders.

Set against a blue background, the portrait is signed and dated bottom right – Roch / 1799. It is set in a gold frame, the reverse glazed to reveal a curled lock of the sitter’s hair laid on opalescent glass.

Sampson Towgood Roch / Roche (1757-1847) was the eldest son of William and Mary Roch of Youghal, Co. Cork. Despite being born deaf and dumb, he showed an early talent for drawing. He worked first in Dublin and Cork before moving for a time to Bath to join the many successful artists who worked there at the height of its popularity as a spa resort. Roch was held to be one of the most talented and sensitive miniaturists of his day. A distinguishing feature of his work is the incipient smile that he gives many of his sitters.