Beautiful half-length portrait of a lady c.1860. The sitter is elegantly dressed in a white satin off the shoulder dress, exquisitely rendered with the impasto technique, and a small flower corsage. During this period hair was worn parted in the middle and smoothed or waved over the ears, then braided or ''turned up'' and pinned into a roll or low bun at the back of the neck. The lady is standing before a sofa in an interior and a country landscape is just visible through the open window.None of the flashier aspects of accoutrements such as jewellery were necessary; instead the artist had the luxury to concentrate solely on the sitter’s beauty and youthfulness. The result is an outstandingly striking portrait. There was a virtuoso in the art of conveying the texture of fabrics, to which he paid no less attention than to the facial features noted in the gleam in the eyes and the flush of colour through the cheeks. The style and type is in line with the fashionable English stud...