Miniaturist dies

Press, 27 September 1978, Page 29

Miniaturist dies

Mrs Elsie Maud White, the Christchurch miniaturist, has died. She was 90. Mrs White was known best for her portraits. She painted a number of commissioned works, among them portraits for the Queen Mother; Lady Newall, wife of a former Gov-ernor-General, Sir Cyril Newall- and the English actress, Dame Sybil Thorndike. Painters and acquaintances recall portraits — and some paintings of flowers —- painted on ivory and framed in gold, to be worn as clasps and lockets, or mounted on walls and mantelpieces. Although her work has had a mainly local impact

— she painted a lot of Christchurch people — Mrs White’s specialty was nationally known. The McDougall Art Gallery has a collection of 12 of her works.

Mrs White was largely self-taught, but trained under an early topographical painter, Samuel Moreton. It was when she shifted from Timaru to Christchurch immediately after World War II that she entered her most productive years. Mrs White was a member of the Royal Institute of Miniature Painters, London. She is survived by three sons, one of whom studied at the Auckland School of Art