Fanny Vallance

A pair, each signed with initals and dated 1870 and 1869 l.l. and l.r., watercolour over traces of pencil heightened with bodycolour and gum arabic, one signed and inscribed on label attached to backboard: Lilies (1876)/Fanny Vallance/Farnham Royal/Bucks, the other inscribed on label verso: Within the bush, her covert nest/A little linnet fondly rests/’BurnsOne 37 x 27.5 cm.; 14 ½ x 10 7/8 inches; the other 38.5 x 27 cm.; 15 1/8 x 10 5/8 inchesProvenanceLady LongmoreThe little-known artist exhibited a work entitled ‘Fruit’ at the Royal Academy in 1876, her address given as 43 Porchester Square, Hyde Park West, London.Fanny Vallance was the daughter of Henry Vallance (d. 1905), who built Farnham Park, in Farnham Royal, Buckinghamshire in 1865, and his wife Emily, née Carr. Most of the contents of the house were sold after his death in 1905.A photograph of the artist taken in 1862 by Camille Silvy in her Bayswater studio is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.