Coming of Age

Like Jane Austen’s character Emma Woodhouse, young Regency ladies had ‘the highest value for elegance’ when it came to fashion. Hence their love of neo-classically styled dresses that featured simple lines in lightweight fabrics such as that worn by this doe-eyed young lady. Wearing a traditional white dress – the short sleeves suggesting evening wear – her brown hair has been curled and tied back with tight curls framing her face.

Delicately painted in watercolour on card and housed in its original papier-mâché frame with convex glass and a floral hanger, the portrait is backed with the artist’s trade card offering ‘profiles and miniatures … in a stile superior in elegance and correctness’ executed by Foster. The portrait has faded slightly and there is a short scratch to the glass which shows in the images as a mark on her neck. Otherwise it is in fine condition.

Edward Foster was a prolific artist whose artistic career spanned over two decades. He was best known for his painted silhouettes and coloured profiles by him are rarely seen. He worked with the aid of a profile-capturing machine and travelled extensively across the north of England. He also spent time in London where he had a grace-and-favour apartment at Windsor Castle. He married five times and he was reputed to be 102 years old when he died in 1864 though the true year of his birth is questionable. His profiles are invariably neat and accomplished making them firm favourites with collectors.