Eternally yours

On 10 February 1841, a special black-bordered issue of the Sydney Monitor announced the death of 21-year-old Sophia Statham O’Brien, ‘beloved wife’ of the newspaper’s proprietor, Francis O’Brien, and third daughter of its founder, Edward Smith Hall.

The couple lived at the O’Brien estate, ‘North Dapto’, about 50 km north of Sydney at Brisbane Water, near the township of Gosford. Conrad Martens captured the area in his 1848 painting Brush Scene at Brisbane Water. O’Brien stated, in the Sydney Morning Herald in 1846, that ‘The scenery is allowed to be equal to any in the colony’, and went on to describe his home as being ‘fit for the occupation of a gentleman's family, for which it was built, at a large outlay. It has a frontage of half a mile to Brisbane Water, with a good depth for the Sydney Packets, which pass daily.’

FL3141033

{"type":"image","clickUrl":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au\/collection-items\/brush-scene-brisbane-water","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/thumbnail\/slnswrosetta\/FL3141033?itok=x0tb9at3","thumbnailLarge":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/large\/slnswrosetta\/FL3141033?itok=2Qh8y1VN","mediaDerivativeUrls":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/thumbnail\/slnswrosetta\/FL3141033?itok=x0tb9at3","large":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/large\/slnswrosetta\/FL3141033?itok=2Qh8y1VN","responsive__quarter_hd":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/responsive__quarter_hd\/slnswrosetta\/FL3141033?itok=B3E-Y1lr","responsive__half_hd":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/responsive__half_hd\/slnswrosetta\/FL3141033?itok=We9JizOf","responsive__full_hd":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/responsive__full_hd\/slnswrosetta\/FL3141033?itok=wh0LPRav"},"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/digital.sl.nsw.gov.au\/delivery\/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=FL3141033&dps_func=stream","mediaMime":"image\/jpeg","transcriptUrl":null,"width":"899","height":"1050"}

Prior to his own untimely death in 1842, Felton was the colony’s foremost portrait painter. His oil on canvas portraits were desirable symbols of success for a colonial clientele seeking assurance of their status. Set in ornate gold frames (many supplied by the artist’s brother-in-law Solomon Lewis) Felton’s attentive rendering of fashionable trappings confirmed his sitters’ aspirations and pretensions. Close examination of this painting has revealed a ‘back-of-the-canvas’ inscription, of the type found on most of Felton’s portraits, which confirms its title: ‘Mrs F. O’Brien painted by Maurice Felton/ Surgeon Sydney. 1841.’

On 23 September 1841, the Herald described this painting as ‘an excellent likeness of […] Mrs O’Brien […] drawn partly from a cast taken shortly after her death and an engraving said to resemble her’. Creating a death mask to perpetuate the memory of a loved one was not uncommon for wealthy families in the Victorian era. Some were produced as standalone artworks; others served as aides memoire for portrait busts or paintings. What is exceptional about this colonial portrait is that its creation after the sitter’s death can be confirmed.

Timing was of the essence in dealing with the dead. A plaster mask had to be made within 24 hours, while the facial muscles were still relaxed and the expression serene. The plaster was applied carefully to record details of the face, then allowed to dry, and usually removed in three pieces.

Given the distance of the O’Brien’s home from Sydney, it’s also possible that Felton officiated as a medical practitioner at Sophia’s demise, before preparing her death mask. No doubt his surgeon’s knowledge of anatomy came in useful while rendering her portrait in the following months.

The subject is depicted with a favourite pet — a smooth-coated, piebald (brown/white) greyhound, perhaps of the Australian-bred type known as a ‘Kangaroo dog’. She wears a necklet of pearls — one of the few jewels, along with diamonds and jet, permitted for mourning attire — and a gold longuard ‘watch chain’ of unusually heavy linkage (more commonly associated with the Georgian period, possibly an heirloom piece). Her off-the-shoulder black-and-white evening gown is in a ‘classical’ style, rather than the prevailing fashion, lending an air of timelessness to the image.

Felton painted many society portraits in the few years of his colonial residence, and his painting of Mrs O’Brien employs a familiar composition. The subject is posed at a slight angle, offering a display of her womanly curves, and looks towards the painter or viewer. She appears clear-eyed, with a peaceful expression on her heart-shaped visage, surrounded by glossy ringlets. Set amongst foliage with a view to the distance, she stands beside an iconic-fluted sandstone column, a popular feature of nineteenth century Australian domestic architecture.

Two years after his wife’s death, on 15 March 1843, Francis O’Brien married Sophia’s younger sister Georgiana Elizabeth at ‘North Dapto’. But the O’Briens did not remain in the district much longer. Perhaps prompted by past associations or the 1840s economic depression, the ‘Banana Plantation, Garden, and Gentlemen’s Residence, situate[d] at Brisbane Water’ was available for lease by December 1846.

Early in 1851, members of the extended Hall/O’Brien clan took up residence at an 80 hectare property at Bondi Beach known as The Homestead. Young Francis attended Sydney Grammar School and was later among the first crop of full graduates of the University of Sydney. He lived a long life and also fathered a son — the next elder son in a succession of four generations of O’Briens to be named for his father.