This charming image is entitled "Mother and Daughter by Vigee-Lebrun”. The thing you will notice straight away but maybe not how important it was, is that both the figures are looking directly at the viewer.
The artist`s name was Elisabeth Louise Vigée, and she was born in 1755, with the Le Brun part of her surname coming from her husband, John-Baptiste Le Brun, an art dealer, seven years her senior, who she married at the age of 21.
The daughter is Jeanne-Lucie-Louise Le Brun, usually known as “Brunette”.
Though it started well, and looks pleasant here, they were not a happy family, the husband was a gambler and the daughter had a row with her mother which led to them being parted for many years.
You can read much more about the life and work of this painter at the Art Story website.
Silks were not included in our original Godfrey Phillips Reference Book (RB.13) written in November 1948 and published in 1949, the reason given inside the book was that "a separate work on these issues is contemplated for a future publication." That never materialised, though other collectors produced checklists and books on silks, including Dorothy E Sawyer (1982 and 1985), and our current silk specialist Alan Stevens, whose detailed works can be purchased from our bookshop.
Do note there was a card set of "Old Masters" which was shown in that volume as set 106, this was thirty six medium cards, size 60x53 m/m, fronts printed by offset process in colour with backs in brown, having descriptive texts. These were issued in 1939, but that set does not contain this painting.
Seven sets of the silk "Old Masters" were issued in total and ours is set six, an unbacked silk measuring 67 x 42 m/m, which is smaller than the rest. This is one of the only two sets to have the painter's name in a slanting italic typeface - the other being set five