Family Portraits

The arrival of their first child was just the excuse Dr Spencer needed to commission an itinerant artist to mark the event by capturing the family’s likenesses in this charming pair of watercolour portraits.

Dr Spencer is shown seated holding a letter by a small table with his writing materials to underline his education and professional career. His wife is shown dressed in her best finery with a super frilly bonnet tied with pink ribbon and her favourite jewellery including a ruby ring and a striking wrist band. The cute baby has a bemused expression as he/she plays with a length of ribbon fastened to a rattle.

The style of Mrs Spencer’s dress with its wide sleeves dates the portraits to the mid 1820s. They are housed in matching maple frames and, bar a little to be expected age-browning, are in good condition. Old hand-written labels on the backing boards name the sitters but lack enough detail to trace their genealogy.