Sir David Wilkie Fife 1785-1841 Malta

The present work is a rare and important example of Wilkie's early portraiture. It was originally conceived as a pendant to a portrait of her husband, Colonel William Deas of Hilton, near Cupar in Fife. Painted in around 1804, they were, according to family tradition, commissioned from the artist for £5 apiece, at the same time as a portrait of Mrs. Deas' brother John Low. Wilkie left his native Fife for Edinburgh in 1799 and was entered at the Trustees' Academy there, where he remained until 1804. In that year he returned home and painted the celebrated subject-picture Pitlessie Fair as well as a number of portraits of local families. The present work clearly shows the influence of Scotland's leading portrait painter of the period, Sir Henry Raeburn, whose work the young Wilkie came into contact with when he was in Edinburgh.