A. Carsberry (British or American, third quarter 19th century). Untitled portrait of a red-haired woman of the Victorian Era, ca. 1875. A charming bust-length, oil on canvas portrait depicting an elegant woman donning clothing befitting the Victorian era - a white blouse with a black bow tied at the neck, signed at the lower right. The lady is gazing toward her left, her lovely visage presenting bright blue eyes, a rosy complexion, and coral rouged lips that complement her centrally parted, wavy auburn coiffure. The background boasts rich forest green, cadet blue-grey, and warm sienna brown hues, and the entire composition (both figure and ground) is delineated with confident, loose brushwork. Size of painting: 21.625" L x 19.5" W (54.9 cm x 49.5 cm) Size of frame: 25.75" L x 23.75" W (65.4 cm x 60.3 cm)

Interestingly, auburn hair was oftentimes exalted in visual art during the Victorian era. For instance, the young lady on the receiving end of a marriage proposal in John Everett Millais' painting entitled "Yes" (1877) boasts a gorgeous ginger updo. Red hair was also equated with beauty in poetry during this period. John Ackroyd, for example, upheld a lock of auburn hair as an ode to a woman's beauty in his poem "To a Lock of Hair" writing, "I look on thee, dear lock of hair / And when I look, I think of her / And breath to heaven a tender prayer / For her, the maid with auburn hair."

Provenance: private Evergreen, Colorado, USA collection; ex-private Denver, Colorado, USA, collection, acquired 1960 to 2000

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#164752

Expected age wear with a few scuffs/chips to the paint and a couple of areas of touch up in the background. Areas of craquelure to the painting. Verso of canvas shows some darkening, stains, and paint strokes that do not interfere with the painting. Wired for suspension and ready to display. A few minor scuffs to frame finish but otherwise frame is very good as well.