The composition of Portrait of a Young Girl in an Aesthetic Interior may well have been suggested by Burne-Jones’s Cinderella watercolour of 1863 that was exhibited at the Old Watercolour Society in 1864. Rebecca Coleman worked in London throughout her life as a painter and illustrator. She was the sister of the better known Samuel John Coleman. She studied at Heatherley’s and then lived in Germany for several years, where she taught. After she returned to London in 1866, she exhibited at the Royal Academy and at Suffolk Street at the Royal Society of British Artists; also at the Dudley Gallery and The Society of Lady Artists.
Sotheby’s Belgravia, February 13, 1979; sold to: Peter Nahum; given to: Faith Nahum; to 2018 Donated in 2018 to: The Museum of the Home, London