In regards to the painting Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, by Thomas Gainsborough, the reason Mrs. Andrews looks like a middle aged harridan, while in fact a mere teenager of 18 or so, is because Gainsborough disliked her. Having gone to school with Mr. Andrews, it appears that Gainsborough quite likes him, depicting him at worst as a rather dim witted soul. However, Mrs. Andrews is depicted as sly and conniving. This painting is an attempted warning to Mr. Andrews. The unfinished patch in her lap would have been a cock pheasant. Greatly influenced by European art, a woman holding a dead bird, usually a cock of some sorts, making use of the obvious double entendre, was well known to signify a woman's selfish grasp on her partner. Apparently when Mrs. Andrews realised the significance of the painting, it was decommissioned and thus unfinished.