-
Miss Harriet and Miss Elizabeth Binney
Smart, John, born 1742 - died 1811 - Enlarge image
Miss Harriet and Miss Elizabeth Binney
- Object:
Portrait miniature
- Place of origin:
Great Britain (painted)
- Date:
1806 (painted)
- Artist/Maker:
Smart, John, born 1742 - died 1811 (artist)
- Materials and Techniques:
Watercolour on card
- Credit Line:
Given by Miss Joan Gwladis Trevor, a descendant of Harriet Binney
- Museum number:
P.20-1978
- Gallery location:
In Storage
John Smart was based in Madras for the decade he was working in India, and although he left India in 1795, his connection with the Binney family was clearly resumed in London, where this double portrait was painted. Charles Binney had been Secretary to an Indian ruler who lived near Madras. Harriet and Elizabeth were Binney’s daughters. Harriet (on the left) married Andrew Trevor in 1797, surgeon to the 33rd Regiment of Foot, the Duke of Wellington's Regiment. (Andrew Trevor was an ancestor of Miss Joan Gwladis Trevor, who gave this wonderful watercolour to the V&A.) In the 1780s Smart began to paint small oval watercolour portraits on paper, offering clients a quicker and cheaper alternative to his miniatures on ivory. This double portrait is a superb elaboration of this style of work, which would have been very laborious for Smart to have painted on ivory. However, the disadvantage of paper is its tendency to discolour with age, which is what gives this picture its slight brown tinge.
