324 - Margaret Sarah Carpenter,

Margaret Sarah Carpenter, British 1793-1872- Portrait of a lady, seated half-length, wearing a white lace bonnet and shawl, embroidering a piece of cloth; oil on canvas, signed 'Margaret Carpenter / 1838' (lower left), 91.5 x 73.7 cm. Provenance: Private Collection, UK. Note: Margaret Sarah Carpenter is one of the most important women artists of the Victorian Era. Born in Salisbury, she studied painting locally and by copying the Longford Castle pictures, owned by the Earl of Radnor, who supported her financially. She started receiving medals and prizes for her art at a very young age, and at 21 she moved to London and established a successful studio specialised in portrait painting. Carpenter exhibited at the Royal Academy regularly from 1818 onwards, as well as at Suffolk Street Gallery and the British Institution, and at the Manchester Art Treasures exhibition in 1857. Her style was strongly influenced by Thomas Lawrence. She attracted wealthy patrons that bought and commissioned paintings from her, such as the Marquess of Stafford, Ada Lovelace, and Countess Howe. Carpenter also portrayed fellow artists and friends such as Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-1828) and John Gibson (1790-1866). Even though she was famous and successful during her lifetime, as many other women artists she was forgotten after her death. Only in recent years there has been a renovated scholarly and commercial interest in her and her work, with museums and institution cataloguing and researching her paintings, which have achieved good results. Her portrait of Miss Jane Blythe sold for over the equivalent of over £19,000 at Christie's, New York, on 2 June 2026. The present painting is a fantastic example of Carpenter's work and style. The sitter is a woman elegantly dressed in a brown dress, covered by a pelerine, who wears a lace bonnet while embroiders a white cloth. Her attire, sober but rich, is accentuated by a large decorated cuff button and a ring. The drapes in the dress's fabric are executed summarily, giving freshness to the portrait and avoiding stasis. The lady gazes directly towards the viewer with a serious and serene look. Carpenter's portrait of Eleanor Frewen Turner [Brickwall House School E. Sussex, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art Photographic Print 89/0292] offers a compelling comparison with the present lot, similar in subject, style, sitter, and dress. Carpenter's works are held in numerous institutions across the United Kingdom, such as the National Portrait Gallery, Trinity College Cambridge, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Academy, Eton College, the British Museum, and many others.