Great Aunt Mary White

Poor Aunt Mary is a bit of a character: she seems to have come through the wars and is now in need of a good home!

Mary is keeping warm with a fringed shawl drawn over her spotted dress. Her dormeuse cap is trimmed with a ribbon band and secured with lace ties under her chin. The profile is painted on paper, the face in black and the costume in shades of grey using thinned pigment. It is inscribed ‘Gt Aunt Mary White’ in pencil on the reverse.

The profile is inscribed ‘By Watkins’ in the shadow under the bust-line termination. As the paper is lightweight there are some light wrinkles, though none that are serious and no tears. It is housed in a pressed silvered frame: the outer edge of the frame is more or less fine but the inner rim is curiously bashed and mis-shaped. It suits the character of the silhouette though!

Not much is known about Watkins who was likely an itinerant artist working in the south of England around 1780-1790. His/her painted profiles display careful attention to the sitters’ costume and hair.