hello

i have bought this nice portrait picture because it is a local peice for me, its a portrait (looking to be from aroung c1880) of a lady called edith macausland, she was the founder of the coleraine cottage hospital before it was demolished and rebuilt.

this portrait of the founder was rescued by a woman at the time of demolishion and then today she sold it to me.

the strange thing about this portrait is although the picture is deffinatly a watercolour , it seems to have a photographic face, the rest of the picture is pure watercolour except for the face which looks photographic.

the portrait is signed on the painting itself (in watercolour) ' elliot & fry'

any help would be appreciated

thanks

Originally Posted by briana5125

hello

i have bought this nice portrait picture because it is a local peice for me, its a portrait (looking to be from aroung c1880) of a lady called edith macausland, she was the founder of the coleraine cottage hospital before it was demolished and rebuilt.

this portrait of the founder was rescued by a woman at the time of demolishion and then today she sold it to me.

the strange thing about this portrait is although the picture is deffinatly a watercolour , it seems to have a photographic face, the rest of the picture is pure watercolour except for the face which looks photographic.

the portrait is signed on the painting itself (in watercolour) ' elliot & fry'

any help would be appreciated

thanks

Hi,
Going by your photograph I cannot tell if your item is a painting or a photograph

1880 seems a little early for it to be a photograph.

possibly 1900 pre WW 1 and it could be a photograph that is hand tinted. This is very common.

more pics ,, can you see what i mean when i say the body looks to be watercolour and the face looks completely different quality almost too good.

not sure but i think the woman in the picture couldnt afford or didnt have the time to travel to london so just sent a photograph of herself to elliot & fry , they then produced a portrait with watercolour and a photographic face then sent it back.

i guess it was the modern and cheaper way of sitting for a portrait.

It's a lovely piece of social history