Ellen Sharples, born Birmingham, - Sarah Lloyd Hillhouse - n.d. - T-Shirt

A pastel profile portrait of a woman with her hair dressed high beneath a soft bow, set against a deep black ground so that her face and pale gown are the only points of light.

Visual Elements & Composition

The figure is shown in strict profile, turned to the right, in a half-length view that fills a vertical field. Near black covers much of the design, and the sitter emerges from it in dove grey, taupe and cream. Soft pinks blend into the skin, and lavender grey and a touch of sage appear in the drapery and foliage. A fine beaded necklace circles the throat, a rosette sits at the bodice, and a small sprig with a pale blossom rests beside the bow. There is no text or numeral; the composition relies entirely on the figure and the dark ground.

Meaning & Symbolism

Profile portraits were a favoured convention of late eighteenth-century portraiture, lending the sitter a composed, dignified presence and drawing attention to the clean line of brow, nose and chin. The sprig and bow are fashionable details that signal taste and standing, the kind of personal touches commissioned portraits of the period were meant to preserve. The work is by Ellen Sharples (1769–1849), an English pastellist born in Birmingham, who later worked in Philadelphia and kept producing portraits in the same delicate manner for prosperous sitters.

On the Unisex Heavy Cotton Tee

On a tee, the portrait sits across the chest, so the profile reads as a single clear silhouette at conversation distance. The dark ground gives the figure room to stand out on the shirt, and the pale face and drapery carry the eye straight to the sitter's outline, the same focus the original pastel was built around.