Lot 117: Lily Williams, ARHA (1874 - 1940) PORTRAIT OF A LADY, circa 1904 - 08 oil on canvas 69 by 56cm., 27 by 22in. Provenance: Mrs S. Mallin; By descent

Lily Williams, ARHA (1874 - 1940) PORTRAIT OF A LADY, circa 1904 - 08 oil on canvas 69 by 56cm., 27 by 22in. Provenance: Mrs S. Mallin; By descent to the present owner Exhibited: Literature: Notes:Lily Williams was a well-known portrait painter and Sinn Fein supporter. Born in Dublin and christened Elizabeth Josephine Williams, she studied at the RHA Painting Schools and privately with May Manning. From 1904-39 she was an annual exhibitor at the RHA; she also showed frequently with the Dublin Sketching Club and at the Oireachtas art exhibitions. She was a staunch supporter of Arthur Griffith and designed the first Sinn Fein postage stamp in order to help finance his paper. Her portraits of Dr Kathleen Lynn hang both in Liberty Hall and the Royal College of Physicians, Dublin, whilst other works hang in µras an Uachtar in, the Abbey Theatre, the Hugh Lane Gallery, and UCD. (See Snoddy, pp. 713-4).