Emma Sandys
English, 1843-1877
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Emma Sandys was a British Pre-Raphaelite painter.
Emma Sandys was born in Norwich, where her father, Anthony Sands (1806–1883), gave her some early art lessons. In 1853 the family added a ‘y’ to their surname. She was influenced by her brother Frederick Sandys (1829–1904), one of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and his friend Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Her earliest dated painting is marked 1863, and she exhibited her works in both London and Norwich between 1867 and 1874.
Her works were mainly portraits in both oil and chalk of children and of young women, often in period or medieval clothing, against backgrounds of brightly coloured flowers. Emma Sandys did most of her work around Norwich but may have spent time in the studio of her brother, Frederick Sandys, in London. She died in Norwich in November 1877.