This delightful family trio of portrait miniatures dates back to circa 1788. The miniatures are framed and glazed.
The inscription on the reverse names the little girl as Anne Howe Frith, her father as Lieutenant Colonel Bedingfield Bramley Frith, and his wife, Anne’s mother, as Jane Howe.
Anne Howe-Frith was born in 1783 on the Isle of Wight. She married Harris Big-Wither and had ten children.
She died in Winchester in 1866. There is a very interesting aspect to this set of miniatures because Harris Big Wither, Anne’s husband, had proposed to Jane Austen in 1802 and been turned down. Facing humiliation, Harris Big-Wither joined the North Hants Militia.
After he became Captain of his Company, he went to Lewes, Sussex. There, in 1804, he met and became engaged to Anne Howe Frith, just 13 months after being rejected by Jane Austen. They were married on 02 November 1804 in East Dean, Sussex.
Antique Number: SA1070893
Dateline of this antique is Georgian
Height is 21.5cm (8.5inches)
Width is 36cm (14.2inches)
Depth is 1.5cm (0.6inches)
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