A Dear Remembrance

Artist Unidentified artist , British or American

CultureBritish, American

Datec. 1840

MediumCut lithograph with added color and beads/sequins, adhered to velvet and matted

Dimensionsmat: 19 3/8 x 15 3/4 in. (49.2 x 40 cm)

Classificationsprints

Credit LineGift of Carol and Nicholas Gillham

Terms

Object number2012.19

DescriptionA vertical sentimental portrait of a woman looking to the right and wearing an elaborate blue-and-white striped dress worn off the shoulders. The dress and hair style are from the late 1830's, early 1840's, early in Queen Victoria's reign. The sitter poses with her left hand to her cheek and holds a bouquet loosely in her right hand. The original background of the print has been cut away, and the figure mounted on brown velvet. Cuts have been made along some of the interior contours of the figure (e.g. along the edges of the shawl and the right arm) and apparently some sort of padding has been added behind the paper to put the figure in low relief. Color has been applied by hand to the fabric and her skin, and beads and sequin-like embellishments have been applied with adhesive to the hair, dress, necklace, and right hand. Some beads and sequins have fallen off, indicated by traces of adhesive remaining on the paper surface. What once was a light, probably white, pigment on her cheeks, arms and upper chest has oxidized to brownish grey smudges. At the lower left of her skirt, hints of foliage fringe the rustic chair, indicating an outdoor setting, now cut away.
The print on velvet is matted with a rectangular border with rounded corners. The border is accented with a hand-drawn black line traced about a centimeter outside of the perimeter, a common framing format for lithographs of the period, and a green and gold marbled trim within the border. The inscription at the lower center of the mat, "a dear remembrance," could refer to the woman's state of reverie and was most likely copied from the lost original margins of the print. - Timothy Riggs/Shana Garr

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