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拍品专文
Born Mary Forsyth, Mary Lowther is believed to have been the illegitimate daughter of Sir William Codrington (1719-1792), 2nd Baronet of Dodington, Gloucestershire and Whig MP for Tewkesbury from 1761 to 1792. Before 1780, she married James Lowther, who served as MP for Westmoreland (1755-1812) and Appleby (1812-1818). Lowther had a distinguished military career, acting as Commander of the Royal Cumberland Militia before being transferred to the Royal Westmoreland Militia in 1798. He also served as Equerry to the Duke of Gloucester, brother of King George III. The Lowthers had nine children, four sons and five daughters.
George Romney painted two portraits of Mary Lowther in 1786, both of which appear to have derived from a single sitting, leading Alex Kidson to suggest the commission may have ‘enjoyed special status’ (loc. cit.). Lowther is recorded as having sat to the artist on 29 July that year, no payment appears to have been made, and she was Romney’s only appointment that day (ibid.). The second portrait was sold by the sitter's great-grandsons alongside the present canvas in 1919 and was likewise acquired by Knoedler and similarly made its way to Pennsylvania, though its current location is unknown (op. cit., lot 75). The second portrait depicts Lowther in riding clothes but otherwise follows a similar format, with the sitter shown to the waist, her body turned to the left, suggesting they were planned together (see op. cit., p. 375, no. 819). The background in both paintings feature bolting, diagonal clouds but most apparent in each is the prominence of the sitter’s hat. Here, Lowther wears a white bonnet, bedecked with looping maroon ribbons, while in the other she wears a large black hat. It’s likely Lowther selected the hats for inclusion herself and left them in Romney’s studio to be faithfully reproduced in paint.
George Romney painted two portraits of Mary Lowther in 1786, both of which appear to have derived from a single sitting, leading Alex Kidson to suggest the commission may have ‘enjoyed special status’ (loc. cit.). Lowther is recorded as having sat to the artist on 29 July that year, no payment appears to have been made, and she was Romney’s only appointment that day (ibid.). The second portrait was sold by the sitter's great-grandsons alongside the present canvas in 1919 and was likewise acquired by Knoedler and similarly made its way to Pennsylvania, though its current location is unknown (op. cit., lot 75). The second portrait depicts Lowther in riding clothes but otherwise follows a similar format, with the sitter shown to the waist, her body turned to the left, suggesting they were planned together (see op. cit., p. 375, no. 819). The background in both paintings feature bolting, diagonal clouds but most apparent in each is the prominence of the sitter’s hat. Here, Lowther wears a white bonnet, bedecked with looping maroon ribbons, while in the other she wears a large black hat. It’s likely Lowther selected the hats for inclusion herself and left them in Romney’s studio to be faithfully reproduced in paint.