Rosebud Lips

This attractive lady with almond-shaped eyes, rosebud lips and dimpled smile wears a traditional white cross-over dress with a high waistline and narrow sleeves as was the fashion during the 1790s. Known only by her initials LC, her powdered curls tumble over her shoulders and are secured with a white bandeau.

The portrait is set against a hatched blue green background that is typical of the work of Nicholas Freese. In fine condition, it is set in a gold-plated frame that is glazed reverse to show plaited brown hair overlaid with the sitter’s initials LC in seed pearls.

Nicholas Freese was born around 1761 in Birmingham to a German father and an English mother but it was to London that he moved in order to practise as an artist. It is thought that he ceased painting commercially in 1814 following the death of his only son in the Peninsular War. His daughter, Mary, was an actress; she married into the Kemble family, well-known in theatrical circles.

An interesting snippet published in John Bull (December 1825) records how Freese, then living at Stamford Street in Blackfriars, was burgled one night losing portrait miniatures and spoons worth over £40. Fortunately the thief was apprehended two miles away and the goods recovered, though the sentence that was later handed down was a harsh one.