Charlotte, Lady Watkin Williams-Wynn c. 1775

Daniel Gardner captured Charlotte, Lady Watkin Williams-Wynn, in a pastel drawing on paper sometime in the late 18th century. Gardner was known for these intimate portraits of fashionable society figures. The image encapsulates the aesthetic ideals and social hierarchies of Georgian England. Lady Williams-Wynn is depicted with soft, delicate features, fashionable hair and dress. These visual codes signified beauty, wealth, and status. Consider the institutional history of portraiture. It served as a tool for the elite to maintain visibility and affirm their position. Was Gardner's portrait a commission? How would its display reinforce social norms around class and gender? To understand this work fully, we turn to sources beyond the image itself. Research into the Williams-Wynn family and the social history of portraiture reveals the complex interplay of art, power, and representation in the 18th century.