An Unknown Middle-aged Woman (once called Agnes Wigham, Housekeeper)
British (English) School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
c. 1650 - 1899
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
578 x 425 mm (22 3/4 x 16 3/4 in)
Order this imageCollection
Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk
NT 1210302
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, An Unknown Middle-aged Woman (once called Agnes Wigham, Housekeeper), British (English) School, circa 1650 or possibly a 19th century copy. A head-and-shoulders portrait of a middle-aged woman, turned slightly to the right, gazing at the spectator, wearing a black dress with a double plain white muslin pointed collar, with white starched lace coif. Dark brown, natural, curly hair falls in locks on her shoulders, she has blue-grey eyes. Once thought to be a portrait of Agnes Whigham, nee Buckley, housekeeper to Sir Richard Bedingfeld, 4th Bart, however she did not begin service at Oxburgh until 1768, more than a century after this portrait was painted.
Provenance
presented to the National Trust by Sybil Lyne-Stephens, Lady Paston-Bedingfeld (1883 – 1985), 1952
Makers and roles
British (English) School, artist