Description
A beautiful miniature portrait painting by Mrs William (Elizabeth) Walker (1800 -1876) of a lady wearing a pink stole, her blond hair curled and upswept. The portrait is set in a gilt metal frame and the reverse is glazed to reveal pierced gilt metal initials "A" and "L" on two locks of brown hair over a bed of vertical strands of hair. There is also a brooch pin attachment.
The name of the artist is written on the backing paper inside the miniature.
Measures 6 x 5cm.
In excellent condition.
___________________________________
Elizabeth Walker (1800–1876), miniature painter, wife of William Walker, was born in London, the second daughter of the engraver Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835) and his wife, Jane Cowen. Her father taught her to paint and to engrave in mezzotint at an early age; she later studied engraving with Thomas Lupton and miniature painting with George Clint and William Northcote, and herself became a popular miniaturist. She was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy and the Society of British Artists between 1818 and 1850, and in 1830 she was appointed miniature painter to William IV. Among her many eminent sitters were five prime ministers. She also painted in oils, and after her marriage she assisted her husband with his engravings. She died at 64 Margaret Street on 9 November 1876 and was buried with her husband. Her miniature of her father is in the National Portrait Gallery, London, and her full-size portrait of the earl of Devon is at Christ Church, Oxford.
