Acquired under an attribution to Boucher by Sir Richard Wallace, 'A Boy as Pierrot' relates stylistically to the miniatures produced by Fragonard’s wife Anne-Marie Gérard in 1779–1782, and probably dates from the same period, c.1780. It translates into oil on canvas the pastel shades and something of the fluid technique seen in Gérard’s watercolours on ivory. The subject, too, recalls her miniatures, at least one of which depicts a little boy in a similar pose and costume (Sotheby’s, Geneva, 7 May 1982). Originally 'A Boy as Pierrot' had a pendant of 'A Young Girl in a Pearl Necklace' (Los Angeles, County Museum of Art).