Nicholas Joseph Crowley
, Irish, 1813-1857
Title
Invitation, Hesitation and PersuasionDatec.1846
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
102 x 127 cm
SignedCrowley
Credit LinePurchased, 1979
Object numberNGI.4330
Label TextThough its title implies a distinct narrative, the specific subject of this painting remains unclear. It seems likely that the young woman at the centre of the composition has arrived at a society event only following the intercession of friends. The event is a revival fancy dress party of a kind popular among the affluent in nineteenth-century Ireland and Britain. The young women wear mittens, shoes, and hairstyles that were fashionable for young middle or upper-class girls in the first half of the nineteenth century, but eighteenth-century gowns that may have been preserved by their families.