A Rose Corsage

Shown in profile, this early Victorian lady is wearing a white rose on her corsage symbolic of purity, youthfulness and everlasting love so perhaps this portrait was intended for her sweetheart. The rose is secured by a brooch to the pink ribbon tie on her dress. Her hair is worn in a plaited knot with long ringlets framing her face.

Watercolour on card, the portrait is signed ‘By J. Howie 1848’. It is presented in a handsome mahogany frame with a gilt slip. Both the painting and the frame are in fine condition.

Born and working in Scotland, James Howie also painted silhouettes between 1840 and 1869 and was an early exponent of photography in Edinburgh.