Portrait of Mrs Thorpe (1854)

A lovely new addition to the Heritage Doncaster Fine Art Collection is this engaging portrait of Mrs Martha Thorpe (1783-1863) by the artist James Smetham.

oil painting of an older woman, sitting in a chair wearing a black dress and a white headpiece tied around her chin.
Portrait of Mrs Thorpe, Heritage Doncaster

Along with her husband Thomas, Martha Thorpe owned Scawthorpe Farm between the 1840s and the 1860s. The farm, which covered around 200 acres of land, lay on the west side of the Great North Road, opposite the end of the present day Jossey Lane.

At the time of this portrait Martha would have been around 70 years of age. She is shown in the painting as a warm character, with her pose suggesting a continuing interest in the world around her.

One particularly lovely detail in the painting is her left hand, which shows her wedding ring sunk into her slightly swollen finger. In her other hand she holds her ‘pince nez’, a style of glasses without arms.

Although the painting is approaching its 200th birthday it is in wonderful condition, having recently been conserved at the Courtauld Institute.

The artist James Smetham (1821-1889) was associated with the Pre-Raphaelite group of artists, and was friends with Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Tate and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford have examples of his work.

The painting is currently on display in the art gallery at the Danum Gallery, Library and Museum.