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crop of washer woman's hands and bucket
Spring Cleaning Trail

From miniature tins of polish in Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House to Old Master paintings, take a closer look at how cleaning has been portrayed historically through Royal Collection objects

JOHN RILEY (1646-91)

Bridget Holmes (1591-1691)

Signed and dated 1686

Oil on canvas | 224.7 x 149.0 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 405667

Bridget Holmes, shown in this full-length portrait by John Riley at the reputed age of 96, was James II’s ‘Necessary Woman’. This role gave her responsibility for cleaning and preparing the royal bedchamber, polishing and dusting furniture, laying fires, mopping, sweeping and the clearing of chamber pots. Holmes is known to have been rewarded generously by the king, as in 1685 she earned a salary of £60, roughly twice the annual income of a skilled tradesman. While she is depicted in plain servant’s dress with her sleeves rolled up, brandishing a broom, the full-length format and composition of this portrait is reminiscent of formal baroque portraiture, perhaps denoting recognition of the sitter’s important contribution to the smooth running of the royal household.


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