Wife abandons sly individual to give support to artist (5)

I believe the answer is:

easel

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'wife' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.

I can't explain the rest of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for easel that I've seen before include "Tripod for an artist" , "A stand for blackboard or artist's canvas" , "Artist's equipment" , "Painter's frame" , "Artist's stand for painting" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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