JEREMIAH MEYER, R.A. (1735-1789)

A Fine Portrait Miniature of the Hon. Mrs Damer, facing right in décolleté lilac-coloured dress with white underslip, green bow tied at corsage, upswept powdered hair

細節

JEREMIAH MEYER, R.A. (1735-1789)
A Fine Portrait Miniature of the Hon. Mrs Damer, facing right in décolleté lilac-coloured dress with white underslip, green bow tied at corsage, upswept powdered hair
oval, 3 3/8 in. (86 mm.) high, silver-gilt frame

來源

Henry Walters (died 1931), Baltimore, chairman of the Atlantic Coast Line.
His widow, Mrs Henry Walters, née Sarah Wharton Green Jones, New York; Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 25 April 1941, lot 592.
Donald de Natalba, New York, 1953.

出版

D. Foskett, Dictionary of British Miniature Painters, London, 1972, I, pp. 83, 405 (described as 'of outstanding merit'), illustrated II, pl. 231, no. 580.
D. Foskett, 'In Search of Miniatures', The Antique Dealer & Collectors Guide, December 1978, illustrated p. 128, no. 6.
R. Walker, Regency Portraits, London, 1985, I, p. 144.

展覽

London, Royal Academy, Gallery VII, 1956-57, no. 250.
Edinburgh, The Arts Council Gallery, British Portrait Miniatures, 1965, no. 194.

拍品專文

Anne Seymour Damer (1749-1828), sculptor, was the only daughter of Field-Marshal Henry Seymour Conway and Lady Caroline Campbell, daughter of the 4th Earl of Argyll and widow of Lord Aylesbury. She showed great artistic talent as a child and took lessons under Ceracchi, worked in John Bacon's (1740-1799) studio and studied anatomy under William Cumberland Cruickshank (1745-1800). In 1767, she married John Damer, eldest son of Joseph Damer, Lord Milton, afterwards Earl of Dorchester. In 1776, he shot himself because his father refused to pay his debts. Mrs Damer was captured by a privateer in 1779, but was later released to join her father in Jersey, who was Governor at that time. Mrs Damer was a staunch Whig and helped the Duchess of Devonshire and Mrs Crewe in canvassing Westminster for Charles James Fox. She also knew Josephine de Beauharnais and was invited to Paris to be introduced to Napoleon. Mrs Damer promised to give him a bust of Fox, and Napoleon in return presented her with a diamond snuff-box inset with his portrait (now in the British Museum). Mrs Damer was the executrix and residuary legatee of Sir Horace Walpole whom she had known since her childhood. She lived in Strawberry Hill until 1811 when it passed to Lord Waldegrave as set out in Walpole's will. She then moved to York House, Twickenham. Mrs Damer died in 1828 and was buried with her working tools and apron.