Uglow, like Coldstream painted portraits throughout his career, though never as commission, indeed, many of his nudes could be classed as portraits, as his models are often either named or identifiable. Marigold is the only known portrait with a black-skinned subject and thus a unique work in Uglow’s oeuvre. His good friend Craigie Aitchison was famed for his black subjects: Uglow “always said that Aitchison painted black people because he wasn’t interested in local colour, which Aitchison took to mean the green, purple or yellow flesh-tones that appear in a portrait of a white person, under the eyes for instance.” Lampert has written of the model that she “came from a distinguished African family; friends recall that her father was perhaps a diplomat.” She is seen in stark profile, again unusual for Uglow, with her dark skin set against an inky black background with the burst of blue from the clothing over her shoulders. Subtle modulations of tones in the paint forming her face gradate to highlight light falling on her nose and cheekbones. Although Uglow had by this point almost eliminated delineating contours with black lines, his borders between subject and background remain crisp, unadulterated by indecision. Uglow delights in maintaining a smooth surface across her face, in creating a luscious texture as tactile as flesh itself. Regal and bold, Marigold was another painting that remained within Uglow’s community of artists, owned by Patrick Symons, a contemporary with Uglow at Camberwell.