Portrait of a lady, seated half length, wearing a blue sash

A portrait which probably dates to Chinnery's residence in India from 1802 to 1825. Chinnery had applied to the Court of Directors of the East India Company 'to leave to proceed to Madras to follow his profession as a Portrait Painter' in May 1802, was refused but a second application was complied with and Chinnery disembarked in Madras on 21 December 1802 after a six and a half month's passage. 'It is his female portraits which most strongly suggest the influence of Sir Thomas Lawrence, who during Chinnery's student years in London was already regarded as the leading exponent of society portraiture. Ever since his early works Chinnery showed a fondness for translucent effects and lacy trimmings in shawls and bonnets, collars and sleeves. ... 'With women, Draperies of all kinds can & do assist us - Laces, shawls Gauzes come in so as to alter even the attitude - certainly so as to make quite a different thing of the Picture to what it would be without them. [George Chinnery, letter of 1 August 1814]' ' (P. Conner, George Chinnery 1774-1852 Artist of India and the China Coast, Woodbridge, 1993, p.121)