• Title
  [Macarthur family portrait, ca. 1820's - watercolour on miniature]
• Call number
  MIN 34
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  1820's (dated from costume)
• Type of material
  Graphic Materials, Watercolours
• Reference code
  431548
• Issue Copy
  Digitised
• Physical Description
  Drawings - 1 watercolour on card miniature encased in oval shaped gold painted frame with raised ridge around inner edge and glass front. The back of the frame is deeply set and covered in metal. At the top centre of frame is a metal loop that is broken or does not meet at the top.. - 8.4 x 6.7 cm. portrait, inside frame (sight) - 9.7 x 8.3 cm., frame
  
• Scope and Content
  The female in this portrait wears a a day dress of white cotton, with a deep cape collar that extends on the shoulders, a high blue coloured belt, an indoor cap of embroidered muslin trimmed in roses, and pendant earings and a brooch of carnelian or coral. The collar has shirring (gathering) and a broderie anglaise edge.
• Access Conditions
  Access via appointment
• Copying Conditions
  Out of copyright:
  Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
• General note
  A note on the provenance of this miniature, filed at PXn 944, reveals that it was purchased (along with MIN 33) from George Hannibal Macarthur, the great grandson of Rev. George F. Macarthur, in 1933.
  The identity of the woman in this portrait is difficult to verify. At the time of donation it was believed that she was a Macarthur relation and may be a daughter of Hannibal Hawkins Macarthur and sister of Rev. George F. Macarthur. The Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol.2, documents the birth dates of Hannibal's daughters as being from 1816 to 1822 and therefore cannot be the subject of this portrait, dated 1820's. It was also believed that the portrait could be of Hannibal's wife, Anna Maria King (1793-1852), though this is difficult to ascertain after comparison with portraits filed at P1/M small pictures file.
  A third speculation, based on the handwritten inscription on the reverse, it that the woman is Elizabeth Macarthur-Onslow. According to the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol.5, Elizabeth Macarthur-Onslow, wife of Arthur A.W. Onslow, was born in 1840 and therefore cannot be the subject of this portrait.
  Based on an inscription on the companion piece MIN 33, it is possible that the woman in this portrait is either Elizabeth (1792-1842) or Mary Isabella (1795-1852), daughters of John Macarthur and Elizabeth Veale.
  The frame is roughly made and the glass is ill-fitting.
  Digital order no:Album ID : 1038191
• Signatures / Inscriptions
  Handwritten on a paper label on reverse of frame, "Show case / Elizabeth / Macarthur / Onslow"
• Name
  Macarthur family
  
• Subject
  Adult Females
  
• Topic
  miniatures
  portraits
  

View Media Files

2.

3.