Miniature painting by Walter Stephens Lethbridge, 1810s, Walter Stephens Lethbridge, circa 1815

Miniature painting depicting a woman in a pale blue dress seated at a table holding a miniature in a red case in one hand and a letter in the other. She is smiling. Behind her stands a black man in a livery uniform of olive coat with epaulets and top-boots, who is also smiling. A small white dog sits at the woman's feet and her bonnet is hanging off the back of her chair. Nb: the black man is not a slave. This is a 1810s english painting, and slavery had been illegal on the british isles from 1772 onward. He is an independently employed servant who happens to be black. Object Type: Miniature painting. Date: circa 1815. Medium: watercolor.