Silhouette in watercolour on paper in an oval gilt metal surround set in a black-lacquered rectangular backing board with a suspension ring and hanger in the form of a spray of leaves, top centre. While the face of the female sitter is solid black, her dress is modelled in shades of grey. She is shown in left profile at just over half length, cut off on a nearly horizontal line, below which there is a little sculptural shading and the inscription, 'By Watkins'. She wears a white domestic frilled muslin cap and a white shawl-necked dress with a high waistband and short sleeves, below which her bare left elbow is just visible above the bottom of the image. The paper support is discloured and cockled and on the back of the frame is the inscription 'By Watkins; formerly at Trafalgar House' with the name 'Wilkins' deleted.

This item was received identified as Mary Nelson, 'Nelson's mother' : this is wrong since her name (and his maternal grandmother's) was Catherine. A previous NMM note suggests that it could be his paternal grandmother whose name was indeed Mary, but was dead long before this image was made, based on the date of the dress alone. The maker, Watkins (initial possibly 'J.'), was also silhouettist whose known working dates were about 1804-18: an example done in Bath is recorded in the latter year and this example is characteristic of his style and signature (cf. Sue McKechnie, 'British Silhouette Artists...1760-1860 [1978] pp. 506-07). It may none the less be a member of the Nelson family, though more work is needed to suggest who.

This item was presented to the Museum in 1964 by Miss Margaret R.N. Harmsworth of Kensington, London, though it is not known if she obtained it at the Trafalgar House sale herself or indirectly. It came with MNT0039, also from Trafalgar House, and also said to be by Watkins though this is likely to be a false assumption based on their being together from the same source.