Art Ew - National Gallery of Australia

William Nicholas Lady and child
A ready market for portraiture arose with the spread of
settlement and the rise of prosperity in colonial Australia.
From the 1820s to the 1850s there were more professional
portraitists working in both watercolour and oil in the
colony than landscape artists.
Watercolourist, etcher and lithographer William
Nicholas (1807–1854) found acclaim after just ten years in
Australia, with the Sydney Morning Herald of 27 July 1847
reporting: ‘His fame is now established in Sydney as the
best portrait painter in watercolours in the colony, and the
consequence is that there are more heads offered to him
for decapitation than he is able to take off.’
Nicholas’s sensitively rendered untitled watercolour
reflects the much sought-after English portrait style of
the period. An exquisitely painted portrait, the faces in
particular are superb examples of the stippling technique
for which Nicholas was renowned. Further research may
well reveal the identity of this fashionable, well-to-do
young mother and her child, dressed in finely embroidered
christening robe and bonnet.
Even in the distant colonies, the quiet, demure aspects
of women’s dress of the Victorian period dictated fashion.
Watered silks in pastel tones were the height of fashion
in the 1840s, and the woman’s gown of celestial blue
typically has a high bodice with a low-waisted, V-shaped
front panel trimmed with a white lace collar. The influence
of medievalism is evident in the angular lines of the bodice
with its reference to the Gothic arch. Showy, full sleeves
slowly lost favour in the Victorian period and the dress has
stylish, closely fitting sleeves with pleating at the elbow. By
contrast, the skirt is full, to emphasise the narrow sculpted
waistline. The hairstyle is also typical of contemporary
fashion: centrally parted, held by combs, ringlets forward
of the ears, and a plaited knot at the back. The gold
brooch on her bodice, painted in a blend of ground gold
leaf and gum arabic, is a delicate final touch.
Anne McDonald
Curator, Australian Prints and Drawings
new acquisition Australian Prints and Drawings
William Nicholas
not titled [Lady and child]
c. 1847
watercolour, pencil and
ground gold leaf and gum
arabic on cardboard
image 22.4 x 17.6 cm
National Gallery of Australia,
Canberra
artonview spring 2007 63