* Lambert (George Washington, 1873-1930). Portrait of a young woman, 1902, pencil on paper laid on card, head and shoulders portrait half-profile to left, of an Edwardian lady gazing into the distance, wearing a high-necked blouse and with her hair swept up, signed and dated lower right and with placename of London, toned and some light spotting, a little worn at edges, sheet size 23.7 x 18.9cm (9.5 x 7.5ins)Qty: (1)NOTESProvenance: Believed to have been given to the owner's grandmother's family by the artist, and thence by descent. The owner's grandmother worked at the Royal Academy of Music and subsequently the Admiralty; her father, Sven Didericksen, was head chef at The Rembrandt Hotel in Knightsbridge, London, and her uncle was the proprietor of an antiquarian book and print shop in London. The family moved in artistic circles, and Australian painter George Lambert, who lived for a time in London, is known to have been a friend. It has been suggested that the subject is the artist Thea Proctor (1879-1966), an Australian painter, known as a prominent arbiter of taste, who was also a printmaker, designer and teacher. Although Proctor didn't travel to London until 1903, she and Lambert met at art school in Sydney, and this portrait does appear to bear a strong resemblance to her. Beautiful and elegant, she was tutored privately by Lambert, sat regularly for him and was a frequent visitor to his London home. On her part she found Lambert intellectually stimulating and was apparently devoted to him. Their exact relationship is unknown but he became her mentor and their friendship was lifelong.