Augustus Leopold Egg, R.A. (1816-1863)

At first glance the painting appears to illustrate a charming image of a young girl enjoying the process of dressing, perhaps for a ball. It combines characteristics of seventeenth-century Dutch portrayals of ladies and their maidservants, from which Egg had copied examples, with Victorian Keepsake images of women absorbed in their toilette at dressing tables. On the table in front of the sitter is displayed a wide array of what would have been highly-fashionable and highly-expensive jewellery at the time the painting was executed, such as the serpent bangle around the sitter's arm, and the elaborate and technically-sophisticated looped belt (or bracelet) that sits in the centre of the table between the candlesticks. Towards the far right of the table can be seen a locket set with turquoises. Another necklace, set with rubies, can also be seen in the centre of the table. These prized items correspond with other items of wealth that surround the sitter, such as her ivory-backed brush, a lavish gilt mirror draped by elaborate lace, and the sumptuous pink dress that sits beside her waiting to be put on, for which she is choosing a suitably coordinated flower accessory.

On closer examination, however, certain aspects of the painting hint at a rather more suggestive explanation, initially proposed by the hair piece that is perched on the side of the dressing table implying that perhaps the lady is not so young after all, and that perhaps, as she does not wear a wedding ring, she may not be virtuous. Dressed only in her undergarments, she is seated in a darkened chamber illuminated only by candlelight, further adding to the ambiguous nature of the scene.