Marguerite Jallut (Marie-Antoinette et ses peintres, Paris, n.d. [circa 1955], p. 35), makes an interesting observation about the work of Pierre-Adolphe Hall: 'Around 1780, Peter-Adolff [sic] Hall; Swedish artist like Roslin, carried out a vaporous and very seductive image, albeit imperfect, image of the queen; which he reproduced by modifying it several times. The characteristics of the queen, which are recreated exactly, but the smile on her lips hides the thickness of them; by narrowing the shoulders in an almost excessive way and slimming her waist with a tight corset, the painting noticeably reduces the importance of her bust. The miniaturist's technique however reached an incomparable perfection. We believe like Diderot that the drawing was neglected and, so seductive are the works of Hall, he did not leave us with a perfect likeness of the queen.'
A copy of the present miniature was in the collection of John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), see G. C. Williamson, Catalogue of the Collection of Miniatures - the Property of J. Pierpont Morgan, London, 1906, III, no. 495). The miniature was lent by Henry Nyburg to the exhibition at the Château of Versailles in 1955 Marie-Antoinette, Archiduchesse, Dauphine et Reine, no. 54, and was later sold Christie's, Geneva, 10 May 1983, lot 287 (as by 'Peter Adolf Hall').