A young girl holding a china Punch puppet, No. 4 ‘Joy’ and No. 5 ‘Sorrow’
A pair of oils on canvas: 24X20in (Frame: 32x28 in) Signed& inscribed with address & titles on old exhibition labels verso. Original ornate oval frames, re-gilded in 22ct. gold leaf. Circa 1860.
PRICE GUIDE £20,000-£30,000

Biography

Thomas Francis Dicksee was a painter of portraits and historical genre. Exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1841-95., British Institution and Suffolk Street. Subjects mostly Shakespearian, some historical, some pure genre.Father of Sir Frank and Herbert Thomas. Painted numerous pictures of female figures in classical or historical costume.

This beautiful pair of portraits capturing a young girls ‘joy’ and ‘sorrow’ when playing with her favorite puppet ‘Punch’, was painted when Dicksee was living at no. 7 Russell Place ,London and so can be dated to between 1854-66. The pair was most likely exhibited at either Suffolk Street or at the British Institution.

A delightful and rare pair of mid-Victorian portraits.