Elizabeth Crosfield

This generously sized and well-painted miniature portrays a young Quaker lady, Elizabeth Crosfield, as she prepares for married life. Quakers traditionally wore sober colours, their dresses plain without frills or even cuffs. As a rule they did not sanction portraiture, believing it to be vain, so this miniature is unusual.

The Crosfields were a prominent Quaker family from Liverpool. Elizabeth was born in December 1815 to George and Margaret (née Chorley). George was a grocer; later he worked as a botanist and a Quaker publicist. Margaret was a Quaker elder. The couple had five children, Elizabeth being the eldest.

In August 1836 – the year of this portrait – Elizabeth married Octavius Waterhouse, a coffee dealer and land agent. They lived at Walton on the Hill, Liverpool and had a son and four daughters. Elizabeth was widowed in 1847 when her youngest daughter was just two years old. She then had a long widowhood as she was 78 when she died in 1894.

The portrait is signed on the reverse ‘F. Hargreaves pinxt / 1836 / Liverpool / Portrait of / Elizabeth Crosfield’. It is set in the original decoratively chased gilt frame that is glazed on the reverse to reveal the artist’s signature.

Liverpool-born, Francis Hargreaves was the son of a miniature painter who no doubt trained him and his brother George to follow in his steps. He worked between 1810 and 1854 but examples of his work are scarcely seen.