The Bride
Daniel Pasmore the Younger was a London genre and portrait artist who exhibited mostly at the Society of British Artists in Suffolk Street, London. He is liable to be confused with his father, Daniel Pasmore Senior who painted similar subjects. This example of Victorian narrative genre painting shows the bride- to-be preparing for her wedding and subsequent new life. It has been suggested that she stands between her past and her future, represented by the young girl and the older, already married woman respectively. This is further alluded to by the natural wealth (the flowers) the girl is holding, contrasted with the material wealth (the jewellery) the married female offers. Other clues offered by Pasmore here to be interpreted include the open window, suggesting future hopes and the journey of life ahead, and the birdcage which represents imprisonment. Which is in her past and which in her future is for the onlooker to decide. A label on the back of the painting carries this poem: Bring flowers fresh, flowers for the bride to wear! They were born to blush in the shining hair. She is leaving the house of my childhood's mirth, She hath bid farewell to her father's hearth. Mrs. Hemaus
