GEORGE ENGLEHEART

Women’s fashion in the late Georgian era had many distinctive features, some of which can be seen in the present work. Mrs Courtney wears a dress with a low neckline, decorated with ruffles. Her hair, likely a powdered wig, is also worn up and decorated with pearls, a style that was becoming more popular in this period. Her simple, round coral necklace reflects fashionable tastes, and going into the Regency Era such pieces of jewellery would become more and more common.

Engleheart records painting two portraits of ‘Mrs Courtney’ in 1777 and 1788. The sitter’s fashion and style of painting indicate that this miniature was painted at the latter date. It has previously been suggested that this lady is Mary Courtney, née Hallett, who married John Courtney in Dorset in 1788. If this is the lady depicted in the miniature, she would be widowed only a year after her marriage and the completion of the portrait.