Helen Layfield Bradley

Date: 1908

Epoque: 20th century

Medium: Each oil on board

Signature: A pair;
one signed and with a fly insignia, lower right: HELEN BRADLEY;the other signed and with a fly insignia, lower left: HELEN BRADLEY;
One inscribed on a label attached to the reverse:
‘Ah, Dear Emily’, said Mr. Taylor (the Bank Manager), as he took her hand.  Emily Maitland was taking a short walk through the park when she met Miss Carter (who wore pink) walking with Mr Taylor.  ‘Dear Emily’, he said again, still holding her hand and looking at her so intently that she couldn’t lift her head, and as Miss Carter watched, Emily felt herself going the colour of a Beetroot, and the year was 1908.  
The other inscribed on a label attached to the reverse:
 ‘Oh, just look’, said Mother.  ‘If that isn’t Mr Taylor (the Bank Manager) with Miss Carter (who wore pink) and they’ve met Dear Emily’.  ‘Oh’ said Aunt Mary, ‘Just look how he’s holding her hand’. ‘Oh my’, said Aunt Frances, ‘Look how pink she’s gone’, ‘I wonder what he’s said’, ‘Oh’, said Mother, ‘Just look at Miss Carter, we shan’t half have a time with her going home, we must all pretend we haven’t seen anything’.  ‘I wonder if he’s beginning to change his mind, but he can never marry Dear Emily, she promised her Father that she would never leave her Mother’.  ‘Isn’t it a pity, she’s so sweet’, and the year was 1908. 

Dimension: 30.5 x 24.7 cm (12 x 9³/₄ inches)

Provenance: Private collection, UK