Oil painting of Mrs. Thomas Nickleson of Pennysylvania (1727-1782), nee Elizabeth Growdon. British School, ca. 1755.

Three-quarter length, three-quarter face portrait of a young woman seated towards the spectator. To her right is a window which opens on to a view of classical style architecture.

Bequeathed by Mary Metford Badcock and Laura Metford Badcock

Bequeathed by Mary Metford Badcock and Laura Metford Badcock in 1935.

Miss Laura Metford Badcock of Fons George House, Taunton, was the daughter of the later Robert Gibson Badcock of Taunton, banker. Her bequest to the Victoria and Albert Museum included furniture and silver. This bequest was the joint property of Miss Mary Metford Badcock (died 1932) and Miss Laura Metford Badcock (died 1935) who were sisters. The objects belonged to the Metford family of Flook Housem Taunton, which they inherited from the Button family in 1763 and sold in 1868. The Metfords intermarried with the families of Ellis, Nickelson and Anderson. The sitter of P.59-1935, Elizabeth Nickelson (1719-1788), was the great great grandmother of Laura and Mary Metford Badcock.

Historical significance: Elizabeth Nickleson (1727-1782). She married Thomas Nickleson on the 22nd January 1748. Thomas Nickelson was a Quaker and merchant. He built and lived in Post Green House, Lytchett Minster, Dorset. A note on the object file quotes a contemporary reference to Thomas Nickleson which stated that he was "a most delightful character. He had three daughters, two of whom married Metfords; no son lived to grow up." Elizabeth and Thomas Nickleson were great, great grandparents of Laura and Mary Metford Badcock, who bequeathed this portrait and that of Nickleson's wife Elizabeth (P. 59-1935) in 1935.

In this three-quarter length portrait Elizabeth Nickleson is shown seated at a window looking out at the spectator. The window looks out on to a stone building in the classical style set in a landscape dotted with cypress trees. On the window sill is a book which the sitter appears to have stopped reading whilst she draws a wrap of light blue silk around her shoulders.

This portrait is a companion to that of Thomas Nickleson (V&A accession number P.58-1935). Both works are of the same dimensions. In P.58-1935 Thomas Nickleson is shown to the left of a window, with a view of ships sailing in Poole Harbour, referring to his local surrounds and profession as Merchant. This companion shows Elizabeth Nickleson on the right of a window. Hung together the couple would be seen facing towards each other whilst looking out at the viewer. In P.58-1935 Nickleson stands in what was probably the drawing room of Post Green House. In the left of the composition is a cabinet-bureau, which was also bequeathed to the V&A by Laura and Mary Metford Badcock (museum number W.37-1935). In this portrait Elizabeth Nickleson is shown seated on a chair of a similar date to that of the furniture in the portrait of her husband. It is probable that this portrait of Elizabeth also shows the sitter in a room at Post Green House. The view from the window does not correspond with the seascape in P.58-1935. The classical stone architecture does not match the style of the double bayed red brick Post Green House. It is likely that this view was created by the artist. Whilst the building reflects a growing interest in classical architecture in the eighteenth century the Corinthean columns of the building link P.59-1935 with the Corinthean pilasters of the bureau-cabinet in P.58-1925.

Elizabeth Nickleson is shown wearing a dress of buff coloured silk. She wears a frilled cap tied under her chin, which entirely surrounds her face. Wide frilled white sleeves protrude from the half length sleeves of her dress, which end at her elbows. She wears a white fichu or small shawl, which covers her shoulders and the front of her bodice. The type of frilled cap is customary of married women of the mid eighteenth century. An anonymous engraving of Two ladies sewing dating to circa 1750 shows figures in similar frilled caps (See Costume and Fashion, figure 141). In this engraving both women wear dresses of a bodice and skirt with half length sleeves with slightly smaller fichus or small shawls covering their shoulders. The similarity of the dress worn by Elizabeth Nickleson and the two women in this engraving dates P.58-1935 to circa 1750. It is possible that P.59-1935 and its companion portrait (V&A accession number P.58-1935) were painted on the occasion of the wedding between Elizabeth Gowdon and Thomas Nickleson in 1748.

P.59-1935