Elizabeth (née Farren), Countess of Derby

Andrew Plimer was one of the most characteristic miniaturists of the late 18th century and was very prolific. His work was much copied and imitated both during and after his lifetime. Andrew and his brother Nathaniel were the sons of a Shropshire clock maker and were initially trained in this craft. However, the brothers rejected their father’s trade and ran away to London where, in 1781, Andrew became a manservant to Richard Cosway, one of the foremost miniaturists of the period. Cosway nurtured Andrew's ambitions, allowing him to act as a studio assistant and teaching him the principals of miniature painting, as well as purportedly paying for him to take drawing lessons. By 1785, Plimer was proficient enough to establish his own practice as a miniaturist and began exhibiting at the Royal Academy from the following year.

Plimer’s works can be divided into two phases. The sitter’s in his earlier miniatures, painted before 1790, are individualised, with well-modelled features, often portrayed against dark grounds. Plimer’s later works are usually larger, pale toned and often rather stylized, especially his portraits of women.

This portrait belongs to Plimer’s later period. Elizabeth Farren was one of the most celebrated actresses and beauties of the later 18th century. She specialised in ‘fine lady’ roles and in a case of life imitating art, became the Countess of Derby in1797 when she married the 12th Earl of Derby, following a lengthy affair. On marrying, she gave up acting entirely. This portrait was made a few years earlier; it is one of many portraits of Farren, the most famous of which is a full-length oil painting by Thomas Lawrence (Metropolitan Museum, NY). Although charming, Plimer’s miniature has too much of the artist’s own stamp to be a reliable likeness. The large, elongated eyes with arched brows, long, narrow nose and small mouth are characteristic of his work in this period, as he strove to produce flattering likenesses of his sitters. Nonetheless, Plimer’s elegant style epitomises the idea of feminine beauty at the end of the 18th century.