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Lot Essay
Damer was the granddaughter of the 4th Duke of Argyll, and the wife of the eldest son of Lord Milton, later Lord Dorchester. After her husband's suicide in 1776 she was taken in by her cousin (and godfather), Horace Walpole, from whom she later inherited his beloved home, Strawberry Hill. Walpole fervently supported Anne's pursuit for excellence in the art of sculpture, so much so that he openly compared her skills to those of Praxitiles and Bernini, indeed, in a letter of 1781 to Sir Horace Mann, Walpole wrote '...in Italy she will be a prodigy, She models like Bernini, and has excelled the moderns in the similitudes of her busts'.
As a female member of late Georgian aristocracy, Damer was highly unusual in her pursuit of a career in the world of sculpture. And while Walpole's praise for her yielded much criticism - she being considered as nothing more than a competent amateur - she became an 'honorary exhibitor' of 32 works at the Royal Academy (1784-1818) and the author of numerous public monuments throughout Britain. As an 'amateur' in her art she was fortunate enough not to have been affected by the demands of the market, allowing her, therefore, to sculpt according to her own inclinations. This is perhaps what motivated her to carve her highly sensitive, albeit sentimental, portraits of animals.
There is a group of either Maltese or Bichon Frisé dogs sculpted by Damer who clearly loved the breed and studied them closely. Her marbles are especially distinguished by the luxuriant, richly carved curls of their coats. Damer’s dogs are only very slightly anthropomorphized, subtly suggesting loyalty and devotion and often looking directly, and intensely, at the viewer and they may have been intended as memorials. There is a similar, signed, example at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2014.568) and another example was sold Christie’s, London, 9 December 2004, lot 245 (£106,050). Other examples of Damer’s marble dogs are at Goodwood, Sussex and Chillington Hall, Staffordshire.
As a female member of late Georgian aristocracy, Damer was highly unusual in her pursuit of a career in the world of sculpture. And while Walpole's praise for her yielded much criticism - she being considered as nothing more than a competent amateur - she became an 'honorary exhibitor' of 32 works at the Royal Academy (1784-1818) and the author of numerous public monuments throughout Britain. As an 'amateur' in her art she was fortunate enough not to have been affected by the demands of the market, allowing her, therefore, to sculpt according to her own inclinations. This is perhaps what motivated her to carve her highly sensitive, albeit sentimental, portraits of animals.
There is a group of either Maltese or Bichon Frisé dogs sculpted by Damer who clearly loved the breed and studied them closely. Her marbles are especially distinguished by the luxuriant, richly carved curls of their coats. Damer’s dogs are only very slightly anthropomorphized, subtly suggesting loyalty and devotion and often looking directly, and intensely, at the viewer and they may have been intended as memorials. There is a similar, signed, example at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2014.568) and another example was sold Christie’s, London, 9 December 2004, lot 245 (£106,050). Other examples of Damer’s marble dogs are at Goodwood, Sussex and Chillington Hall, Staffordshire.