Clothilde Edith Ford, daughter of Edward Onslow Ford

Clothilde Edith Ford, daughter of Edward Onslow Ford, painted on panel in 1896, represents Alma-Tadema's continuing practice of portraying the children and family members of his artistic contemporaries and social circle. Edward Onslow Ford (1852–1901) was one of the leading sculptors of the New Sculpture movement in Victorian Britain, known for his psychologically penetrating portrait busts and his major public commissions including the Shelley Memorial at University College, Oxford. The two men moved in overlapping social worlds centred on the Holland Park artistic community. Portraits of children by major Victorian painters were prestigious domestic commissions; Alma-Tadema's careful characterisation of young subjects — avoiding sentimentality while capturing the directness of childhood — distinguished his approach from the more conventionally sweet treatment typical of the period.

Executed on panel, the portrait demonstrates Alma-Tadema's precise handling of a rigid support — a technique he associated with intimately scaled, highly finished work. The panel surface allows for fine detail in the rendering of the child's features and the texture of her costume. The composition likely follows the conventions of Victorian child portraiture while incorporating Alma-Tadema's characteristic avoidance of cloying sentimentality.