Portrait of a Woman

John Brett, RA (1831-1902)

c. 1859

Oil on board

20.2 x 14.9 cm (7 3/4 x 5 3/4 inches)

Inscribed v, on sticker: "Winsor & Newton Artists Colourmen"; along right edge: "JOHN / Brett / ARA."

Private Collection

Provenance: bought as Lot 1336, John Nicholsons, 14th-15th May 2008

The panel-maker's label on the reverse says "by appointment to His Royal Highness the Prince Consort." Since Prince Albert died in 1861 this suggests that the picture was painted before that time (and Brett did, in fact, do several other similar paintings of a similar size on board at the end of the 1850s). — Paul Crowther

[Click on image to enlarge it.]