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Lot Essay
This portrait of Felicity Jean Trotter is a notable example of Sir Thomas Lawrence’s work from the turn of the nineteenth century. When it last appeared on the art market in 1985, it was hailed in Tableau magazine as ‘one of the finest unrecorded portraits by Sir Thomas Lawrence’ (loc. cit.). The bust-length portrait depicts Felicity in an elegant black silk gown, her hair styled atop her head and tied with a matching ribbon. The dark tones of her attire are vividly offset by the rich red curtain in the background. Felicity was the daughter of Captain Samuel Swinton, R.N., proprietor of the Franco-British newspaper Le Courier de L’Europe. She married John Trotter of Dyrham Park in 1789, following the dissolution of her first marriage to Archibald Mitchelson. The portrait remained in her family until its sale in 1985.
Kenneth Garlick dates the work to circa 1800, by which time Lawrence was established as one of Britain’s leading portraitists, having completed likenesses of Queen Charlotte in 1790 and King George III in 1792 (loc. cit.). A miniature by Henry Bone, after the present portrait (fig. 1), bears the date 1799 on its reverse, supporting Garlick’s argument that this painting was executed during Lawrence’s most productive period. Despite his success and a steady stream of commissions, Lawrence’s extravagant lifestyle brought him to the brink of bankruptcy by 1807. The sitter’s family was connected by marriage to the Coutts banking dynasty, to whom Lawrence was indebted — a link that may explain the origin of this portrait, possibly created in partial settlement of his obligations. Although the quality of his work varied during these years of financial strain, some of his most celebrated and dynamic full-length compositions are from this period, including portraits of Elizabeth Farren, later Countess of Derby (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. no. 50.135.5) and John Phillip Kemble as Rolla (sold at Christie’s, London, 6 July 2018, lot 206). The vivacity and vigor of his bust-length portraits of Emily Lamb (The National Gallery, London, inv. no. NG6617) and Alexander Mackenzie (National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, inv. no. 8000) are echoed in the present work.
Kenneth Garlick dates the work to circa 1800, by which time Lawrence was established as one of Britain’s leading portraitists, having completed likenesses of Queen Charlotte in 1790 and King George III in 1792 (loc. cit.). A miniature by Henry Bone, after the present portrait (fig. 1), bears the date 1799 on its reverse, supporting Garlick’s argument that this painting was executed during Lawrence’s most productive period. Despite his success and a steady stream of commissions, Lawrence’s extravagant lifestyle brought him to the brink of bankruptcy by 1807. The sitter’s family was connected by marriage to the Coutts banking dynasty, to whom Lawrence was indebted — a link that may explain the origin of this portrait, possibly created in partial settlement of his obligations. Although the quality of his work varied during these years of financial strain, some of his most celebrated and dynamic full-length compositions are from this period, including portraits of Elizabeth Farren, later Countess of Derby (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. no. 50.135.5) and John Phillip Kemble as Rolla (sold at Christie’s, London, 6 July 2018, lot 206). The vivacity and vigor of his bust-length portraits of Emily Lamb (The National Gallery, London, inv. no. NG6617) and Alexander Mackenzie (National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, inv. no. 8000) are echoed in the present work.