Portrait of a young woman by Eliza Allen

PXD 1649

fonds

September 1867

Graphic Materials, Drawings

9681959

1 drawing - pastel, pencil - 68 x 53 cm

Eliza Calvert was born on 8 February 1816 in Manchester, England. Her father, Samuel Calvert, had taught drawing at The Academy on Lloyd Street, Manchester, from the 1810s. On 25 July 1833, she married William Bradley (1801-1857), with whom she had four children. From 1852-1857, she worked in Booth Street, Manchester, and in 1857, following Bradley's death, she married Oswald Allen (1818-1904). The couple then moved to Sydney, where, from September 1863, Eliza worked as a colourist in the studio of Edwin Dalton at 400 George Street. In August 1864, she establised a photography and crayon portrait studio at her home, Beulah Cottage, on Piper Street, Woollahra. In 1865, she closed her studio to begin running the artistic department of Bradley & Allen at 360 George Street, established by her husband and son. The following year, she worked at William's studio on Pitt Street. In 1871, she and her husband exhibited eight items at the NSW Annexe of the International Exhibition in London, and in 1872, she won a prize at the Sydney Academy of Art Exhibition. In 1873, their George Street studio was taken over by the Freeman Brothers and, by 1877, the couple had returned to England where they established a studio at 2 Northwick Terrace, Maidenhead, Berkshire. Eliza died in Lancashire in 1900.

References:
Library acquisition file and vendor catalogue

Lancashire, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1911. "Eliza Calvert". Accessed 24 July 2023. https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.au/imageviewer/collections/2575/images/4426584_00365

Manchester, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930. "Eliza Calvert". Accessed 24 July 2024. https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.au/imageviewer/collections/2962/images/40364_633870_2957-00135

Sydney Morning Herald. 12 October 1864. Accessed 24 July 2024. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13105082

Purchased by vendor at auction in Sydney in about 2017

1 pastel and pencil portrait drawing on linen by Eliza Allen of an unidentified young woman, dated September 1867. The young woman is wearing an evening ensemble and the drawing is housed with an original gesso and gilt frame by Christopher Furse (active 1857-1873).

Out of copyright:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Signed and dated on verso "Eliza Allen, del. Sydney, Sep 1867"

Portrait may be the "1 large crayon portrait" of "Miss Conolly" exhibited in the NSW Annexe of the International Exhibition of London in 1871 as suggested in the vendor catalogue and listed in the Library collections at 606.4/17A1