The Life of Henrietta Somerset
The Life of Henrietta Somerset,
2010–11, Cardboard and glass insect display cases (each one 20.5 x 15.5 cm), pins, watercolour, pencil, copper gilt, soot on paper
Background
This suite of portraits uses insect boxes to build a portrait of Lady Henrietta Somerset, until now preserved in only one oil portrait and barely mentioned in history again. Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn and Henrietta, his wife, is a painting by Joshua Reynolds in the National Museum of Wales (click here for link). Wales is not usually much associated with the aristocracy. It was a surprise to learn about this family's link to the early mining industry. The portrait depicts Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, at the age of twenty, with his wife Lady Henrietta Somerset. The couple were married on 11 April 1769 and she died on 24 July of the same year. Henrietta was a daughter of Sir Watkin's father's friend and political ally, the 4th Duke of Beaufort. Her mother-in-law's wedding gift to her was a magnificent silver-gilt toilet service made by Thomas Heming in 1768, which two years later was passed to the second wife, without bothering to re-engravie the name.
The painting is presumed to have begun as a marriage portrait, although the black costume suggests that it was completed as a memorial portrait. Little else is known about Henrietta and her short life: she is preserved only in the painting and represented by the toilet service with its elaborate mirror.
The painting is presumed to have begun as a marriage portrait, although the black costume suggests that it was completed as a memorial portrait. Little else is known about Henrietta and her short life: she is preserved only in the painting and represented by the toilet service with its elaborate mirror.
