Portrait of a working woman in the spotlight

A depiction of a young, working milkmaid, writes Des O’Sullivan, is the highlight at an upcoming sale of Irish art.

LITTLE Peggy is one of the rarer offerings of the Irish art sale season now getting under way. Painted by the Bandon born artist Charles Henry Cook (c1830-c1906) it is part of Morgan O’Driscoll’s sale of Irish art in Dublin on Dec 2, on view this weekend in Skibbereen.

In a note to the catalogue, Dr Claudia Kinmonth points out that it is extremely unusual to find such a large, full length, exhibition-quality portrait of a working woman.