Rolinda Sharples

British·1793–1838

3 paintings in our database

Sharples was one of the most accomplished women painters in early nineteenth-century Britain, achieving a level of artistic ambition — particularly in her large-scale group compositions — that was unusual for women artists of the period. Her genre scenes of social gatherings are populated with individually characterized figures arranged in convincing spatial settings.

Biography

Rolinda Sharples (1793–1838) was born in Bath, the daughter of the painter Ellen Sharples and stepdaughter of the portraitist James Sharples. She was trained by her mother and became one of the most accomplished women painters in early nineteenth-century Britain, specializing in genre scenes and portraits.

Sharples's most celebrated work, The Trial of Colonel Brereton (1834), is a remarkable large-scale composition depicting a contemporary courtroom scene with dozens of individually characterized portraits. Her genre paintings of Bristol social life — assemblies, markets, and public gatherings — provide valuable visual records of early nineteenth-century urban culture.

She was an Honorary Member of the Society of British Artists and exhibited at the Royal Academy. She died in Bristol on 10 February 1838, at the age of forty-four.

Artistic Style

Sharples's paintings display careful observation, warm coloring, and a gift for organizing complex multi-figure compositions. Her genre scenes of social gatherings are populated with individually characterized figures arranged in convincing spatial settings. Her palette is warm and naturalistic, with careful attention to the effects of interior and artificial lighting.

Her portraits are sympathetic and well-observed, reflecting the solid training she received from her mother.

Historical Significance

Sharples was one of the most accomplished women painters in early nineteenth-century Britain, achieving a level of artistic ambition — particularly in her large-scale group compositions — that was unusual for women artists of the period. Her genre paintings of Bristol social life are valuable historical documents.

Her career illustrates the role of family training in enabling women's artistic careers at a time when institutional barriers limited their access to formal education.

Things You Might Not Know

•Sharples was a Bristol-based painter who studied under her mother Ellen Sharples, herself a successful pastel portraitist — making them one of the most productive mother-daughter artistic partnerships in British art.
•She specialized in large-scale group scenes of Bristol social life — theater audiences, music festivals, church gatherings — that document the civic culture of Regency Bristol in unique detail.
•Her 'The Cloak-Room, Clifton Assembly Rooms' (c.1817–18) is one of the few paintings of its era to show women as the primary social actors in a public space.
•She died of breast cancer at 45, cutting short a career that had shown consistent originality within the constraints of provincial British painting.

Influences & Legacy

Shaped By

Ellen Sharples — her mother's professional training in portraiture gave Rolinda her foundational technique and the confidence to pursue a professional career
Johan Zoffany — Zoffany's large-scale 'conversation pieces' showing groups of people in social settings provided the model for Rolinda's ambitious civic group scenes

Went On to Influence

Bristol painting tradition — Sharples is one of the most significant figures in early 19th-century Bristol art, alongside Edward Bird and Rippingille
Women in British art — her career as a professionally trained, commercially active painter in a provincial center challenges assumptions about women's artistic opportunities in Regency Britain