A miniature drawing of a young girl holding an infant in her arms, while another small child clings to her side. With initials, lower left.

This drawing can perhaps be read as a reflection of concern for disadvantaged people, or of an artistic interest in the fashion for ‘picturesque poverty’. A young girl has been left in charge of her two siblings, the responsibility of which can be seen in her serious expression and in her awkward stance in supporting the infant in her arms.

Gordon Browne was a prolific artist whose output included illustrations for titles such as Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1885), Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1886) and Fairy Tales from Grimm (1895).