A head and shoulder portrait, in coloured chalks, of Marianne Skerrett, Head Dresser and Wardrobe Woman to Queen Victoria. She is turned to the left, wearing a cap with a dark frill and a brooch on the collar of her dress. Signed and dated.

Marianne Skerrett, was appointed Head Dresser and Wardrobe Woman to Queen Victoria on 1 October 1837. She was a niece of the Treasurer to Queen Charlotte. When she died at the age of 94, 'in full possession of her faculties', the Queen wrote: 'She came to me at my accession, & was most useful at the head of my Wardrobe, ordering everything, looking over my bills &c, & arranging with the different artists. She was quite a superior person, very clever, read enormously, had an intense passion for animals, & was a great friend of Landseer's, & of many of the artists. She was very shrewd & plain spoken, very devoted & attached to me and mine.' (Journal 4 Aug 1887)