Another ebay find. I loved her expression so I felt she needed a good home. Although she has a mournful look in her eye, she’s not as scary as some Victorian portraits can be, in fact she’s quite pretty. The condition is atrocious though and I’m not really sure how long she’s going to last before she crumbles away forever. She’s painted on some sort of hard cardboard, so wear and tear over the years has resulted in severe craquelure to the surface of the paint, which I actually find immensely aesthetic.
What I really like about this painting, is that the bow is painted with such realism that I feel I could almost undo it if I pulled on the ribbon.
At the moment she is positioned on top of the mirror of the dressing table in our spare bedroom, affectionately called ‘Granny Clegg’s room’ because that is where all my Victorian bedroom furniture resides, so she has adopted the moniker Granny Clegg.
I found a chunky frame in a charity shop which almost fits it perfectly, it was a great find. It had a charming, amateur painting of a seascape in it which I removed then painted it matte black. It looks quite austere; perfect!