Titles

Two possible titles have been suggested:

• 'Study for 'Brown and Gold: Lillie "In our Alley!" ' (1980, YMSM). 1
• 'Lillie in our Alley (The Lady of Lyme Regis)' (2015, National Gallery of Canada). 2

The Canadian website cited above comments:'The title of this painting alludes to the eighteenth-century ballad "Sally in Our Alley." … This painting has also been called "The Lady of Lyme Regis".'The latter title is very misleading, since the painting was not done in Lyme Regis and the model was a Londoner.

'Study for 'Brown and Gold: Lillie "In our Alley!" ' is the preferred title.

Description

A half-length portrait of a girl in vertical format. She sits facing left, in three-quarter view to left, but looking sideways to her left, at the viewer. She has shoulder-length brown hair and a deep fringe, and wears a black cap. Her black dress has a high neck, and a greyish-white scarf or blouse is visible at the front. She is sitting on a wooden straight-backed chair. The background is dark brown.

Sitter

Lilian ('Lily') Pamington (b. 1887/1888) .

Whistler painted about ten portraits of Lillie Pamington including Brown and Gold: Lillie 'In our Alley!' [YMSM 464] and Lillie Pamington [YMSM 466].