The Veiled Head Dress

This small eighteenth century pastel portrait depicts an elegant lady in a pale décoletté dress, her brown hair upswept and topped with a veiled head dress with soft curls falling over her shoulders. The drawing is reminiscent of the style of pastel portraiture associated with the Irish artist Hugh Douglas Hamilton whose clientele formed a veritable ‘who’s who’ of Georgian society.

Drawn on laid paper and dating to around 1770, the portrait is held behind old glass in a shallow period giltwood frame with a pie crust edge. The drawing has some fading but is in good condition; the finish on the frame is best described as shabby chic.

A charming period piece.