WASSER, ANNA,
Was born at Zurich, in Switzerland, in 1679; being the daughter of Rodolph Wasser, a person of considerable note in his own country and a member of the council of Zurich. Anna had the advantage of a polite education; and as she showed a lively genius, particularly in designing, she was placed under the direction of Joseph Werner, at Berne. He made her study after good models, and copy the best paintings he could procure. After having instructed her for some time, on seeing a copy which she had finished of a flora it astonished him to find such correctness and colouring in so young an artist, she being then but thirteen years of age. She painted at first in oil, but afterwards applied herself entirely to miniature, for which, indeed, nature seemed to have furnished her with peculiar talents. Her works in that style procured her the favour of most of the princes of Germany; and the Duke of Wirtemberg, in particular, sent his own portrait and that of his sister to be copied in miniature by her hand; in which performance she succeeded so admirably, that her reputation was effectually established through all Germany. The Margrave of Baden-Durlach was another of her early patrons; and she also received many commissions from the first personages in the Low Countries. Though, by the influence of her father, she was prevailed upon to devote most of her time to portrait painting, yet her favourite subjects were those of the pastoral kind, in which she displayed the delicacy of her taste in invention and composition, in the elegance of her manner of designing and in giving so much harmony to the whole, as invariably to afford pleasure to the most judicious beholders. In all her subjects, indeed she discovered a fine genius, an exceedingly good taste, and an agreeable colouring. She died, unmarried, in 1713.
WATTS, JANE,
Was the daughter of George Waldie, Esq., of Hendersyde Park Scotland. Before she was five years old she showed much fondness for drawing, and she very early painted landscapes in oil, which were greatly admired. She was almost wholly self-taught, yet her pictures, when exhibited at the Royal Academy and the British Institution, commanded universal applause. In literature she displayed equal talent. This accomplished woman died in 1826, at the age of thirty-seven.
WEBER, HELENE MARIE,
Is the only child of Major Frederick Weber, a native of Berlin, and at one time an officer of note in the Prussian service. Mrs. Weber, who is yet living, was an Englishwoman of great beauty and fortune, daughter of a Liverpool merchant named Hastings. They were married in Paris in 1824, and Helene was born in that city in 1825. Major Weber died the next year. After his death. Mrs. Weber came with her child to England, and resided here until 1837, when she removed to Brussels to facilitate Helene's education; and in 1843 she gave Helene an opportunity of acquiring a thorough knowledge of German by a residence in Leipzic. Miss Weber is not only thoroughly educated in all the usual branches studied by women, but is a proficient in several of the more abstruse
