Half-length view of a girl in a white dress and black veil

This is one four of the Bray drawings (PAF2045-2048) which have the distinctive 'frame', suggesting they have been transferred from another group. All are probably later than the main 1770s group both from the costume and style, which is more finished. The use of a black veil with a lighter gown might suggest the subject is Spanish, Portuguese or possibly Maltese, or in imitation of that style. This is one of 73 drawings by Bray (plus one signed 'NF 1782') preserved in a 19th-century album that was purchased for the Museum by the Macpherson Fund of the Society for Nautical Research in April 1991. They have now been separately remounted. Bray (1750-1823), was second lieutenant of the 44-gun 'Pallas' under Captain the Hon. William Cornwallis (1744-1819) - later a well-known admiral - on two voyages (1774-77) to report on British interests in West Africa, including the slave trade. The dated drawings refer only to the first of these, from December 1774 to September 1775, though a few may be from the second. Others comprise country views, some of Deal, Kent (where Bray may have come from), and others of social-history interest.
Gabriel Bray (1750-1823)

Original size: 127 mm x 79 mm