Bostonian portraitist Ellen Day Hale was best known for her striking studies of female subjects. The sitter here is believed to be Gabrielle de Veaux Clements, a fellow artist and lifelong companion of Hale’s. The sensitively rendered drawing is finely detailed, especially in the bonnet’s decorative elements. Such an exquisite portrait likely required Hale’s friend to sit patiently for hours on end, indicating the good nature of their friendship and mutual respect for each other as artists.