Romantic in Silk and Lace

Seated in a garden landscape with trees, this young lady of delicate complexion is richly attired in a black silk dress with a plunging neckline and puffed sleeves with gauze undersleeves. A white lace veil is draped over her black upswept hair with ringlets falling round her face.

The son of a Swiss watch-maker, Alfred Edward Chalon (1780-1860) emigrated with his family to England in 1789. He and his older brother, John James, both attended the Royal Academy Schools. Chalon gained a reputation for painting well-dressed fashionable ladies both in miniature and in full-length watercolour and so his studio was much in demand. He even gained Royal patronage from the newly crowned Queen Victoria who appointed him as her portrait painter.

Painted in a bold and confident hand, the portrait can be dated to around 1840. It is set in a gilt-metal frame. Both the portrait and the frame are in fine condition.