Listening to the Ocean

With her stylishly crimped dark hair and bright red lips, this young lady is certainly eye-catching but it is the iridescent conch shell that really elevates this unusual portrait.

Signed ‘E. Strellett’ along the edge (concealed under the frame), the portrait resides in a gilt metal frame backed with black velvet.

Ephraim Strellett (1875-1959) studied at St. John’s Wood School of Art and exhibited at the Royal Miniature Society between 1900 and 1935.