A Girl Watching a Tortoise, 1868. Watercolour and gouache; 125/8 x 71/2 inches (32 x 19.5 cm). Private collection.
This is Armstrong's first treatment of this subject and it differs considerably from the principal version that he later executed as a decoration in oil for Eustace Smith's dining room at 52 Prince's Gate. The watercolour is an interior and not an outdoor scene. Different models have been chosen for standing female figure and their poses are somewhat different, particularly those of the right arm and the left leg. In the earlier version the model's right hand rests against her face while it grasps a red coral necklace in the later oil version. In the watercolour version the model's left leg stretches in front of her right leg while in the oil version the left leg is bent with her left foot posterior to the right foot. The costumes are different with the model's gown in the oil version being much more transparent. In the small version a yellow sash covers the model's breasts and then falls down along her right side but in the large version a yellow shawl goes over her right shoulder, behind her back, and then drapes over her left wrist. In the watercolour version the model's left hand rests on an ebonised plant stand while in the oil version it rests on the arm of a carved marble bench. The hairstyles of the two models differ significantly as do the caps that they wear. The backgrounds in the pictures are also quite different – in the watercolour it is a blue-green curtain while in the oil version it is a lemon orchard, with a white marble wall, and a carved white marble bench. The tortoises and their positions are also changed between the two versions.
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Created 19 March 2023