Circle of Alfred Edward Chalon Portrait of a Lady with Opera Glass

An original mid-19th-century watercolour painting, Circle of Alfred Edward Chalon, Portrait of a Lady with Opera Glass.

This beautiful portrait of a young lady is exquisitely painted, the face rendered in watercolour with the delicacy of a miniaturist artist. There is decorative scratching out to the veil which expertly gives the sheer lace fabric a sense of translucency.

The beautiful young sitter is shown seated, with what appears to be a single opera glass in her hand; the setting is one of cultured theatricality, the sumptuous dark curtains behind providing a foil for her alabaster skin.

This mid-19th century watercolour is very much in the portrait style made fashionable by Alfred Edward Chalon (1780–1860), who became Portrait Painter in Water Colour to Queen Victoria. Such is the resemblance, it is indeed possible that the painting is by Chalon; the indistinct initials (F.R.?) at the lower right could relate to the sitter or some other reference.

The watercolour is presented in an attractive gilt swept frame. The frame has a gilt-metal mount (copper) which a number of Chalon's watercolours have. The metal mount appears to be contemporary to the painting, but the frame itself is later, made of an early polymer-like material covered in metal gilt. The framing backboard is a new replacement.

An altogether charming artwork, ready to hang.