A Beehive Hat

Dating to the 1770s, this slender lady wears a fichu around her shoulders, a ribbon necklace tied at the back and an eye-catching beehive hat designed to accommodate her upswept powdered hair. The hat is decorated with a blue and white striped ribbon to match the blue trim on her fichu.

Drawn in pastel on paper in the style of the Lancashire artist James Sharples, the portrait is presented in a later gilt wood frame with an inner beaded rim and a piecrust edge. The reverse has a puzzling ink inscription in an old hand and a framer’s label for E. Howlett of Hull. Elisha Howlett was based at 24 Savile Street, Hull in 1837 before moving to No. 40 that same year.