Flowergirl

Although Andrew Plimer created beautifully rendered portraits of his own young family, he received relatively few commissions to paint children. This charming example shows a young child with the sweetest dimpled face wearing a mop cap trimmed with a blue ribbon bow and a traditional low-cut dress, her apron filled with colourful roses.

The edge of the portrait can just be seen within the frame at the top though this is not actually noticeable when hung. The portrait itself is in fine condition and is set in the original gold plated frame that is enclosed on the back. The frame is lightly scratched on the reverse but is otherwise fine.

Andrew Plimer (1763-1837) was the son of a Shropshire clockmaker, a trade he and his older brother were expected to assume to. But the two boys had different ideas and so ran away from home to travel with a gypsy menagerie. The boys painted the vans and the scenery and were not above stealing decorators’ paints as and when they could! Finding themselves in Buckingham after a couple of years on the road, they left the troupe to walk to London where Andrew had the good fortune to be taken on as a studio assistant to the famed miniature painter Richard Cosway. He, recognising the young man’s budding talent, arranged painting lessons for him. Plimer set up his own studio in 1785 and exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1786 and 1830.