Poised and lost in thought this young lady is wearing a sky blue dress beautifully figured with flowers in gold and with a pink rosebud romantically positioned on her corsage. Her unpowdered hair has been swept up over pads to create a tall hair-do with loose curls falling over one shoulder.*Dating to the 1760s, the portrait is signed Sherlock / 17?? bottom right and is housed in the original gold fausse-montre frame that is glazed reverse to show thickly plaited auburn hair.*Born in Dublin around 1738, William Sherlock was the son of a fencing master. He came to London to study at St Martin’s Lane Academy winning recognition for his figure drawing. He subsequently studied under an engraver in Paris, a skill he was to put to good use when he engraved a series of portraits to illustrate Smollett’s History of England. In addition to painting miniatures he was a successful watercolourist and even found time to be a picture dealer.*Provenance: Sotheby''s June 1995...