The Life of Henrietta Somerset

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