Reproduction of a water-colour drawing of dog 'Floss'" attributed to Charlotte Brontë. Now in the Brontë Museum (Wood, facing p. 132). Despite the attribution to Charlotte here and in an early sales catalogue, there is a good deal of doubt about the artist here. Christine Alexander and Jane Sellars, in their catalogue of the sisters' works, are in no doubt that this is a likeness of Anne's dog Flossie, which was given to her by her pupils at Thorp Green, the Robinsons. But they are inclined to think that Emily, not Charlotte was, responsible for it:
The style of the painting, especially the handling of the dog and the misty background, is closer to Emily Brontë's other animal illustrations.... than to any of Charlotte's extant watercolours or drawings. Moreover, the paper used has the same texture and is roughly the same size as that used by Emily for her animal paintings. The sheets give the appearance of having been removed from a single extant sketchbook used by her after her return from Brussels.... [388]
Certainly, there is a freedom and spontaneity here that most would association with Emily rather than her elder sister.
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Related Material
Bibliography
Alexander, Christine, and Jane Sellars. The Art of the Brontës. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Wood, Butler, ed. Charlotte Brontë, 1816-1916; a centenary memorial, prepared by the Brontë society, with a foreword by Mrs. Humphry Ward and 3 maps and 28 illustrations. New York: Dutton, 1918. Internet Archive. Contributed by University of California Libraries. Web. 2 December 2017.
Created 6 December 2017