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The Life of Henrietta Somerset

By  June Nelson 2009 - 2010

Dimensions
Variable

This work, comprising several framed works, is based on a portrait of Welsh aristocrat, Sir Watkins Williams-Wynn and Henrietta, his Wife by Joshua Reynolds. The couple were married on 11th April 1769 and she died on 24th July of the same year. Her mother-in-law's wedding gift to the young bride was a magnificent silver-gilt toilet service which, two years later, was passed on to the second wife. The painting was presumably begun as a marriage portrait, although the black costume suggests that it was completed as a memorial portrait. Little else is known about Henrietta and her short life. The work comprises 5 insect boxes in which Henrietta, pinned like a butterfly, move fades from full colour to a burnt shadow. Mixed media: insect boxes, watercolour, pencil, copper leaf, soot
Screenshot 2024 06 18 at 17 01 47 1718727442 June Nelson

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