M Poyning

This small half-length portrait, painted by Easy Anglian artist George Roth in 1779, depicts a lady wearing a teal dress with a lace handkerchief fill-in fastened at the front with a matching bow, a dormeuse cap over her unpowdered curls and a black shawl drawn round her arms. Her choker ribbon necklace is fastened at the back as was the fashion during the 1770s and 80s.

Oil on panel painted in 1779 and housed (unglazed) in its original ebonised frames with an inner crennellated gilt border. The backing board is signed and inscribed with the sitter’s details – ‘A Sketch by / Geo. Roth / 1773’. Below this has been added ‘M. Poyning / AEtatas 46 / Obiit Junii 18: 1810’.

George Roth worked in both London and Bath between 1771 and 1793 specialising in small oil portraits. Being portable, these portraits would have appealed greatly to the well-to-do visitors who flocked to Bath during the season for its healing waters.