![]() ![]() We can only guess as to why Cassandra drew a portrait of Jane on that day in 1810 and for what purpose. It was an important element in their home entertainment. A pastime, thousands of other ladies participated in, along with playing the pianoforte, singing and dancing. Cassandra, was an ordinary, lower middle class person dabbling in sketching and painting for her own interest and edification. They were painted for a particular purpose by professional artists, some of whom, like Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough and Thomas Lawrence, were the best, most sort after and amongst the most brilliant artists of their day. All the other portraits are of famous politicians, the lords and ladies of the time, rich merchants and industrialists, and the powerful. It is the only portrait within the gallery made by an amateur. ![]() The portrait is also unique in another way. ![]() ![]() Jane Austen by Cassandra Austen, pencil and watercolour, circa 1810 ![]()
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