R. Orton, Portrait of a Child in a Lace Collar

The painter who signed ‘R. Orton’ has not been traced in auction records or artist dictionaries. The picture belongs to a long 20th-century tradition of decorative portraits in the manner of the 17th century, with the sitter in period costume.

A child with long auburn curls looks straight out of the picture, the face softly lit against a dark olive ground. A broad white collar edged with blue lace falls over a dark blue doublet, tied at the throat with a tasselled cord. The face is carefully modelled. The lace and costume are painted quickly, in loose flicks of white and blue.

Oil on canvas or canvas board, signed lower left ‘R. Orton’ in green. A light bloom has formed in the darker passages and should respond to cleaning. In a gilt composition frame moulded with stylised tulips and scrolls in the Art Nouveau manner.