QUEEN VICTORIA

The present lot is a faithful contemporary copy of Thomas Sully’s preparatory oil sketch for his famous full-length portrait, Queen Victoria in her Robes of State Ascending the Throne. Sully’s oil sketch was painted from life in several sittings at Buckingham Palace from March to April 1938 and before embarking on his return journey to Philadelphia in August, the artist commissioned John Wood (1801-1870), whose painting style was similar to his own, to paint a copy, probably as a safe-guarding measure in case his own sketch was damaged en route. Fortunately, Sully’s sketch survived the voyage and served as the basis for the full-length rendition, which he completed in Philadelphia. The resulting portrait, showing the young Queen looking over her right shoulder, was Sully’s masterpiece and catapulted his career as the leading American portraitist of his day (for a full discussion of the commission, see Barratt, cited in Literature above; Sully’s sketch and full-length portrait are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. nos. 14.126.1 and 2021.140).