A rare pair of embroidered silk pictures, worked with coloured silks and gold and silver metal thread, with French knots on an ivory silk ground, one depicting an aristocratic North African black lady in mid-17th century costume and wearing shoes with red heels, being shaded with a parasol by a blackamoor attendant before a pomegranate tree, the other with a figure tending a caparisoned camel, with a palm tree, flowers and a rocky outcrop, possibly French or Italian, late 17th / early 18th century, originally from a bed hanging, 55.8 x 44.1cm (max), later glazed and framed. (2)Provenance: By repute the Collection of Lady Lebus. By the 18th century depictions of black people in the arts were becoming more commonplace but depictions of wealthy or aristocratic black people were still a rare occurrence. This present lot is unusual as it depicts an aristocratic black lady possibly in a North African setting. She wears sumptuous clothes, red heeled shoes and is attended to by a well-dressed servant. During the 17th century and 18th century red heels denoted wealth and privilege and within the French court of Louis XIV red heeled shoes also denoted favour with the King. click here to view the page turning catalogue