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拍品專文
A celebrated playwright, novelist and actress, Elizabeth Inchbald, née Simpson, was born in Stanningfield, near Bury St. Edmonds, Suffolk in 1753. The daughter of a farmer, she was educated at home alongside her sisters. As a child, she struggled with a speech impediment, which inspired her ambition to become an actress as a means of overcoming her stutter. Despite her family’s discouragement, she left for London without their permission in April 1772. Just two month later she married Joseph Inchbald (1735-1779), an actor himself. The couple moved to Bristol for Joseph’s career, and it was there that Elizabeth made her stage debut as Cordelia in King Lear. She continued acting for seventeen years, performing roles in plays that ranging from Shakespearean tragedies to contemporary comedies.
Elizabeth achieved her greatest success as a writer. Her first attempted submissions were farces that were met with rejection from theater managers in 1781. She changed course, however, adopting a pseudonym, Mrs. Woodley, and submitting The Mogul Tale in 1784. While George Colman, her theater manager, learned her true identity before accepting the play, she did not publicly declare her authorship until witnessing its success. Over the course of her career, Elizabeth became a popular dramatist, with nineteen of her plays performed in London. She gained further recognition from her two novels, A Simple Story (1791) and Nature and Art (1796). Her play Lover’s Vow (1798) was notably performed by the characters in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park (1814).
Elizabeth was introduced to Thomas Lawrence through her close friend and fellow actress, Sarah Siddons (1755-1831). Their meeting in 1794 led to a friendship and frequent visits. Elizabeth sat for Lawrence at least twice, first in the summer of 1795 and again two years later, resulting in the present painting and another finished portrait (location unknown).
Although unfinished, the present portrait captures a liveliness and spontaneity characteristic of Lawrence's work, capturing Mrs. Inchbald's personality. It is not known why the work was left unfinished, although it was not unusual for Lawrence to leave works in this state, with some 200 works left unfinished in his studio on his death. Lawrence is documented as having exhibited some unfinished canvases as James Boaden noted in his memoir on the sitter: ‘At this time it was of importance that his gallery in Greek Street should exhibit the beginning of portraits, to which the eye might be attracted as the mirrors of either rank, or beauty, or genius; and Mrs. Inchbald undoubtedly combined two of the requisites, when in the month of July she frequently sat to him for her picture’ (loc. cit.).
A NOTE ON THE PROVENANCE
This painting once belonged to William Dacres Adams (1775-1862), who served as the last Private Secretary to Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. Adams was a good friend of Lawrence and frequently hosted him at his estate, The Old House, Sydenham, Kent. He owned several works by Lawrence, including his own portrait, painted circa 1810-15. Lawrence also produced a number of paintings and drawings of Adam’s family and relatives, the Wynell-Mayow. It is possible, then, that Adams may have acquired the present painting directly from the artist.
Elizabeth achieved her greatest success as a writer. Her first attempted submissions were farces that were met with rejection from theater managers in 1781. She changed course, however, adopting a pseudonym, Mrs. Woodley, and submitting The Mogul Tale in 1784. While George Colman, her theater manager, learned her true identity before accepting the play, she did not publicly declare her authorship until witnessing its success. Over the course of her career, Elizabeth became a popular dramatist, with nineteen of her plays performed in London. She gained further recognition from her two novels, A Simple Story (1791) and Nature and Art (1796). Her play Lover’s Vow (1798) was notably performed by the characters in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park (1814).
Elizabeth was introduced to Thomas Lawrence through her close friend and fellow actress, Sarah Siddons (1755-1831). Their meeting in 1794 led to a friendship and frequent visits. Elizabeth sat for Lawrence at least twice, first in the summer of 1795 and again two years later, resulting in the present painting and another finished portrait (location unknown).
Although unfinished, the present portrait captures a liveliness and spontaneity characteristic of Lawrence's work, capturing Mrs. Inchbald's personality. It is not known why the work was left unfinished, although it was not unusual for Lawrence to leave works in this state, with some 200 works left unfinished in his studio on his death. Lawrence is documented as having exhibited some unfinished canvases as James Boaden noted in his memoir on the sitter: ‘At this time it was of importance that his gallery in Greek Street should exhibit the beginning of portraits, to which the eye might be attracted as the mirrors of either rank, or beauty, or genius; and Mrs. Inchbald undoubtedly combined two of the requisites, when in the month of July she frequently sat to him for her picture’ (loc. cit.).
A NOTE ON THE PROVENANCE
This painting once belonged to William Dacres Adams (1775-1862), who served as the last Private Secretary to Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. Adams was a good friend of Lawrence and frequently hosted him at his estate, The Old House, Sydenham, Kent. He owned several works by Lawrence, including his own portrait, painted circa 1810-15. Lawrence also produced a number of paintings and drawings of Adam’s family and relatives, the Wynell-Mayow. It is possible, then, that Adams may have acquired the present painting directly from the artist.