Blue Beads

Beautifully rendered in pastel, this half-length portrait shows a Regency lady wearing a satin empire-line dress, the long sleeves with frilled cuffs and the shoulders with mancherons (layers of flounces). A matching wrap draped over her arms is edged in cornflower blue to match her bracelets and beaded necklace. It is though her elaborate up-do that commands attention with its stiffly padded curls. Sadly her name and story has been lost to history.

Pastel on paper set in the original gild wood frame with pie-crust edging. The portrait is in excellent condition; the frame slip has age-old dust and light tarnishing that adds to its patina.

The daughter of a blacksmith, Ellen Wallas married the portrait artist James Sharples as his third wife in 1787. The couple had two children, both of whom were to also take up painting. Around 1794 the family emigrated to the United States where there was a growing demand for portraiture. It was in Philadelphia in 1797 that Ellen began to draw portraits professionally. In 1801 the family returned home but in 1809 they re-visited New York where James died in 1811. This prompted Ellen’s permanent return to England; she and the children settled in Bristol. Upon her death in 1849 she endowed the Bristol Academy for the Promotion of Fine Arts.