Alice Maxwell miniature portraits

[halcyon.64]

I agree Would be nice if it was her. It seems to be a position you get elected to rather than are pre-destined to become. I think her name was Alice Maud Maxwell and she died in 1915.

[trish1120]

I can see why you brought it as its a very beautiful item.

[halcyon.64]

There are actually two. You will see the second one if you scroll across to the right

[halcyon.64]

Just had a thought. Perhaps the second one is of Letitia? They were only a year apart. The one labelled Alice Maxwell is the portrait on the left.

[arthurk]

There's more about deaconesses in the Church of Scotland here:
http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/serve/ministries_council/partnership_development/the_diaconate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordination_of_women_in_the_Church_of_Scotland

It was originally an order of auxiliary ministers, so something that you might feel you were called into, which would then be assessed and tested by others.

I hadn't picked up on the age question which Trish pointed out, so I suppose it's possible that Alice had these portraits painted when younger and only later became a deaconess. But I find it a bit puzzling why the label should only mention a trip to Brisbane, if these belong to a different time in her life.

The version of the book that I found at Google didn't include all pages, but I think it said it was available as an ebook, so the whole thing might shed further light on her. I think it also mentioned a picture of her - also not in the free version. It would be interesting to compare...

[halcyon.64]

Just located the eBook on Trove. There are three photos of her - one as a child and two later on when she is a Deaconess. I have attached them. Hard to tell if it is the same person. Thanks for your input.

[arthurk]

As with fashion, I'm not the greatest at spotting likenesses in photos (much better at identifying places!) but I think there is some similarity between the third of these photos (the one with "To face page 100") and the right-hand miniature (the one with the larger frame). The similar angle helps, but I do think the face shape is similar, especially the nose.

[halcyon.64]

I agree Arthurk. The face shape is similar and the nose is quite straight and comes directly down from the forehead. The lips are also comparable. I was told they were two portraits of the same woman but as I mentioned above, only one is labelled. They came together. Thanks again.

[trish1120]

I still think this is one for the Photo Board.
I have seem some amazing things done on there including facial comparison by overlapping photos.
If you dont want to repost photos on there you can just add a link to this query.

Trish