Elizabeth Shedden (mrs. Barr) before 1896

This is a portrait of Elizabeth Shedden (Mrs. Barr) bound in a book of family history, we don’t know when it was made or who made it. Portraits like this served an important function within the family. They were about reinforcing social bonds through visual representation. Likenesses, like property, were passed down through the generations to reinforce family identity and social status. The image is a reminder of the cultural and economic power bound up in family history, particularly amongst landowners. Genealogical research and portraiture were important ways of reinforcing their dominance. But portraits like this were also used to create a fiction of social stability in times of rapid change. The portrait itself is undated, and unsigned, yet an art historian would be interested in finding out when the book was made, who it was made for, and what function it served in the family’s history.