t is so precisely like something which happens every day
that we might think the picture was painted yesterday instead of in
1779, were it not for the few signs which indicate its date. For one
thing, the lady's hair is arranged over a high cushion in the peculiar
style affected at this period in fashionable circles. The style was
carried to absurd extremes, ladies vying with one another in the
height of the coiffure until in some cases it actually towered a foot
and a half in height. Over this structure were worn nodding plumes of
feathers, increasing the fantastic effect.

We may imagine how these unsightly erections vexed the artistic soul
of Sir Joshua Reynolds. He was, however, enough of an autocrat to take
liberties with the fashions. When obliged to paint the portrait of a
lady with a "head" (for so the coiffure was called) he always managed
to modify its height and make its outlines harmonize with his
composition.

[Illustration: MRS. PAYNE-GALLWEY AND HER CHILD "PICKABACK"]

A side view was of course much less objectionable than the full
front, in which the face was elongated to such strange proportions. In
this case the face is turned in profile, and its delicacy is enhanced
rather than injured by the masses of hair which frame it. The hair,
instead of being drawn tightly back from the forehead in the ordinary
way, waves in graceful curves, which are quite beyond the art of any
hairdresser. Finally, the massive effect of the hair is broken by the
narrow scarf bound about it and tied under the chin. The curve of this
scarf meets the curve of the profile to form a beautiful oval.

The quaintest touch in the picture is the child's big hat. The same
shape is worn to-day by men, and one might fancy that the baby had
borrowed her papa's hat for the frolic. It is a curious change in
fashions which transfers any part of a little girl's wardrobe to that
of a grown man.

We may feel a little better acquainted with the mother and daughter to
know their names. Mrs. Payne-Gallwey was Philadelphia, the daughter of
General De Lancey, Lieutenant Governor of New York. The child was
Charlotte, who afterwards married John Moseley. Mrs. Gallwey's beauty
is of a very fragile type, and her eyes have a languor hinting of
invalidism. Only a few years later she died, while still in her young
motherhood. Little Charlotte has a round healthy face, but it is a
little sober. Indeed, both mother and child seem to be of a rather
dream