A Toddler

Wearing a white smocked dress with puffed sleeves, it is impossible to determine whether this child is a boy or a girl. Set against a clouded blue sky background, the portrait is signed AB Colthurst and dated [19]07 which suggests the child may have been the artist’s niece or nephew. It is set in a gilt metal frame with a velvet backing. The portrait and frame are in fine condition though there is a small underchip to the left edge of the glass.

The 1901 Census shows Gladys living in Stoke Newington with her widowed mother and siblings. Gladys is listed as a 17-year-old student of art with “her own account”. Interestingly, her mother was born in Jamaica, two of her siblings in Canada and she herself was born in the United States.