Lady by C. H. Hudson

Little is known about the profilist C. H. Hudson who was painting silhouettes between 1810 and 1821. She may have been the daughter of Mrs Elizabeth Hudson of Bath whose silhouettes painted during the 1790s share certain stylistic traits.

The young lady shown here is wearing a striped dress with a square décolletage and a high waistline tied with a narrow ribbon sash. Her hair has been swept up and secured with a comb with tight curls bunched over her forehead.

The silhouette is reverse painted in transparent shades on convex glass and is backed with cream silk. It is set in the original papier-mâché frame with a leaf hanger and is signed on the backing paper – “Painted / by / C. H. Hudson  Bath May 1812”.

For further discussion on the artist see under “Musings” [www.wigsonthegreen.co.uk/journal/]