This work shows a new aspect of his portraiture. The majority of Etty's portraits depict friends or associates of the artist but this portrait was commissioned by an upper class patron, Charles Watkin Williams-Wynn MP, and is one of only a handful of society portraits painted by the artist. It depicts two of the patron's five daughters; the standing figure holds a ribbon and turns towards the viewer, as if she has been interrupted whilst making the final preparations to her sister's costume.

Provenance

Commissioned by Charles Watkin Williams-Wynn; thence by decent to Mrs Lewis Motley; ChristieÂ’s, 1982; private collection; through Tomasso Brothers.