Jane 'Jeanie' Elizabeth Hughes, Mrs Nassau John Senior (1828-1877)

George Frederic Watts, OM, RA (London 1817 - Compton 1904). Oil painting on canvas, Jane 'Jeanie' Elizabeth Hughes, Mrs Nassau John Senior (1828-1877) by George Frederick Watts OM, RA, (London 1817 - Compton 1904), 1857-58. A full-length portrait turned to right, in blue dress, kneeling on crimson armchair, watering lilies of the valley on gilt console table. Flowers and carafe in foreground to right; in the background green wallpaper with floral pattern. Watts recorded that he exhibited the portrait at the Royal Academy in 1858 under a pseudonym out of curiosity to see whether his manner was recognisable . It was: he was identified as the artist. Watts' best known portraits are the 'Hall of Fame' series in the National Portrait Gallery collection, serious, honest head and shoulders paintings of great Victorians such as William Morris. He regarded portraiture as less important than his morally uplifting and symbolic works such as Time, Death and Judgement. But portraits such as Mrs. Nassau Senior also rely heavily on symbolism. Alastair Laing's analysis makes this very clear: "Watts's portrait of Mrs. Nassau Senior, like that of Ellen Terry, is a moral allegory expressed through the language of flowers. The lilies of the valley, which symbolised 'the return of happiness' to the Victorians, are growing in a rich pot on a fantastically ornate plinth. Scattered in the foreground, as if rejected, lie cut flowers - including an aurum lily, orchid and rose. watts appears to be setting up a deliberate contrast between the natural simplicity of the growing lilies, and the richness, profusion and artifice with which they are surrounded. The glass carafe with which she waters the lilies, and the clear crystal jug of water in the foreground, suggest both purity and temperance. Watts himself subsequently told Mrs. Barrington that, by showing Jeanie Senior in the act of 'watering and bending over her flowers with loving care.... he had tried to suggest.... her beneficent gracious nature'." (In Trust for the Nation exhibition catalogue p. 44). A similar use of symbolism can be seen in many Pre-Raphaelite pictures. In the 1850s Watts was influenced by both Pre-Raphaelite colouring and techniques of oil painting, as this portrait clearly shows. His widow described it as "brilliant in colour and as delicate in handling as a miniature". Under Rossetti's influence pictures, including this one, were painted with copal varnish. Jane Elizabeth (known as Janie or Jeanie) Hughes (1828-1877) was the daughter of the writer and artist John Hughes and younger sister of Thomas Hughes (1822-1896), the author of Tom Brown's Schooldays. She married Nassau John Senior (1822-1891) in 1848; he was the son of the famous economist Nassau William Senior. She was heavily involved in social causes, founding the Association for Befriending Young Servants. In 1874 she became the first female Inspector of Workhouses and Pauper Schools, but had to resign shortly afterwards due to ill health. Jane Senior had, according to Mrs.Watts, a "naturally bright and spontaneous out-of-door nature". She and Watts became friends around 1855. As the portrait shows she was a great beauty, with 'rippling golden hair'; while working on a series of frescoes in 1856 Watts wrote to her "lend me your hair.... and a hand or an arm occasionally." In 1855 she was the model for the young mother in The Rescue by Millais. Wightwick Manor, West Midlands (Accredited Museum)