This utterly charming pair of portraits by artist, Richard Wilkinson, depict a married couple.

She wears an off-the-shoulder black evening dress that tucks in at the middle and opens out into a bell shape. While he wears a black suit with a waistcoat and cravat. The styles match those typically worn in the late 1830s, early 1840s.

Both are seated before a landscape, which was probably imagined by the artist or taken from a prop. Her backdrop includes flowers, perhaps foxgloves, and she’s holding a small posy. When given as a gift, foxgloves carried the symbolic meaning of “I am ambitious for you, rather than for myself.”

Both portraits are held within period gilt frames with extensive corner decoration.

Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 20” x 23” / 51cm x 58cm
Year of creation: c. 1840
Condition: A few minor paint losses. Canvas relined. Craquelure but the paint is stable. Frame with light wear.