SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, P. R. A. (BRITISH 1723-1792), PORTRAIT OF THEOPHILA PALMER

SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, P. R. A. (BRITISH 1723-1792) PORTRAIT OF THEOPHILA PALMER: THE GIRL WITH THE RED MUFF oil on panel 77.5 x 65cm (30½ x 25½ in.) Provenance: Marchioness of Thomand (the sitter's sister) Her sale; Christie's, London, 18 May 1821, lot 68 (sold to Marquess of Lansdowne) with Agnew's, London, from whom acquired by the Earl of Rosebery Earl of Rosebery sale; Christie's, London, 5 May 1939, lot 112 (sold to Danton Guerault) from whom acquired by the father of the present owner Exhibited: London, British Institute, 1823, no. 27 as 'A Girl with a Muff'. London, British Institute, 1833, no. 3 as 'A Girl with a Muff'. London, Royal Academy, 1896, no. 23, lent by the Marquess of Lansdowne Literature: A. Graves and W. V. Cronen, A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, London, 1899-1901, II, p. 723 E.K. Waterhouse, Reynolds, London, 1941, p. 45. F. Nordström, 'The Girl with a Muff', Formae, 1961, pp. 27-28. M. Postle, Sir Joshua Reynolds: The Subject Pictures, Cambridge, 1995, pp. 82, 95, fig. 33 J. Ingamels, The Wallace Collection:Catalogue of Pictures,1999, vol. I, P40, pp. 151, 153, n. 5. D. Mannings and M. Postle, Sir Joshua Reynolds: A complete catalogue of his paintings, New Haven and London, 2000, I, pp. 535-536, no.1391 Engraved: J R Smith, 1777 (oval) S.W. Reynolds (fig. 1) The present charming picture, imbued with evident sentiment and feeling, had great personal significance to the artist, not only because the model was the favourite niece of Sir Joshua Reynolds, but because the painting seems to have provided Reynolds with the idea for one of his best and most celebrated 'fancy pictures' The Strawberry Girl, 1773 (Wallace Collection, fig. 2), of which he painted several versions and for which his niece was also the model. The sitter was Reynolds' niece Theophila Palmer (1756-1848), the younger daughter of John Palmer, Attorney of Great Torrington, Devon and Reynolds's sister Mary. Theophila, affectionately known as 'Offy', was named after Reynolds's mother and grandmother. Both sisters were sent to live with Reynolds in London in 1770 and Offy remained there until her marriage in 1781. She was commonly regarded as the more beautiful of the two sisters, and Reynolds was remarkably fond of her. Graves and Cronin, loc.cit. records the family ditty; When I take tea, I think of "The"; When I take coffee, I think of "Offy"; So whether I'm drinking my tea or my coffee, I always am thinking of thee, my Theoffy.' In a letter dated 29 March 1831 Maria Edgeworth wrote that Theophila is 'very agreeable and good natured...enthusiastically and affectionately fond of her uncle'. Fanny Burney in her Memoirs noted that 'The Miss Palmers added to the grace of his [Reynolds's] table and of his evening circles by the pleasingness of their manners and the beauty of their persons' and '... The eldest Miss Palmer seems to have a better understanding than Offy; but Offy has the most pleasant face...'. While Offy, aged twenty, was away from Reynolds's house, he wrote to her remarking, 'I never was a great friend to the efficacy of precept, nor a great professor of love and affection, and therefore I never told you how much I loved you, for fear that you should grow saucy upon it. I have got a ring and a bracelet of my own picture; don't tell your sister that I have given you your choice. My compliments to all the family, and I remain, Dear Offie, you affectionate uncle'. Theophila married Robert Lovell Gwatkin (1757-1843) of Killiow, Truro, High Sherriff of Cornwall in 1780, by whom she had ten children, seven daughters and three sons. She was an amateur artist herself. Her elder sister, Mary, (1750-1820) married Murrough O'Brien, 5th Earl of Inchiquin, later 1st Marquess of Thomond. Tom Taylor noted in The Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 'It is gratifying to know that Offy's happiness was as great as her uncle and warmest friends could wish. She lived to be ninety and to see her children's children, and, affectionate to the last vividly remembered her happy girlhood under her uncle's roof and the brilliant society that found a centre there. Sir Joshua's bequest to Mrs Gwatkin was £10,000 in the three percents.' The present work was painted in 1767 when Offy was eleven years old. She was the model for Reynolds in several of his best-known pictures, including Theophila Palmer Reading Clarissa Harlowe, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1771, no. 158 (fig. 3) and Simplicity (Rothchild Collection, Waddesdon Manor). Reynolds also presented her with her portrait on the occasion of her marriage in 1781. There are two technical notes at the back of Reynolds 1st leger which seem to relate to the present work, 'Offe's Picture painted with Cera & Cap. Solo-cinabro' [wax and copaiba- a balsam made from South American plants- and vermilion] and 'Offe a fatto intiera mente con Cap. & Cera/le Testa sopra in fondo preperato/con olio & biacca' [painted entirely with copaiba and wax, the head on a ground prepared with oil and white lead]. Waterhouse believed on stylistic grounds alone that the picture may have been repainted in the 1780s. Fancy pictures or 'fancies' were so-called to distinguish them from traditional commissioned portraits. Reynolds began to paint fancy pictures in the early 1770s and became increasingly fixated on the genre towards the end of his career. While Reynolds could complete the face of a portrait within a matter of hours, his subject pictures often absorbed him for months. His single figure character studies of children form the most straightforward manifestations of his fancy pictures late in the 1760s/1770s. As Martin Postle notes, 'it is clear from Reynolds's own preoccupation with them, and the critical coverage they received during his day, that the subject pictures lay at the very heart of Reynolds's practice as a painter'. The painting has descended through the same family since it was last recorded at auction in 1939 and unseen in public since its exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1896. This charming character study captures all Reynolds found endearing about his favourite niece and it is hardly surprising that he returned to the composition when painting The Strawberry Girl, one of his most important works in this genre. The picture appears to be in relatively untouched condition having been painted on panel and the pigments and technique as noted in his leger have aged well. Condition Report: The work is executed on a mahogany panel which appears stable, examination under ultra violet light reveals an opaque varnish in the darker areas, there are scattered spots of fine strokes of restoration in the background and sitter's dress and to the sitter's right cheek and neck area and bridge of her nose. Some strengthening to the clouds in the sky to the left of the sitter. Condition Report Disclaimer, SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, P. R. A. (BRITISH 1723-1792), PORTRAIT OF THEOPHILA PALMER: THE GIRL WITH THE RED MUFF, SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, P. R. A. (BRITISH 1723-1792) PORTRAIT OF THEOPHILA PALMER: THE GIRL WITH THE RED MUFF oil on panel 77.5 x 65cm (30½ x 25½ in.), Provenance:, Provenance: Marchioness of Thomand (the sitter's sister) Her sale; Christie's, London, 18 May 1821, lot 68 (sold to Marquess of Lansdowne) with Agnew's, London, from whom acquired by the Earl of Rosebery Earl of Rosebery sale; Christie's, London, 5 May 1939, lot 112 (sold to Danton Guerault) from whom acquired by the father of the present owner, Exhibited:, Exhibited: London, British Institute, 1823, no. 27 as 'A Girl with a Muff'. London, British Institute, 1833, no. 3 as 'A Girl with a Muff'. London, Royal Academy, 1896, no. 23, lent by the Marquess of Lansdowne, Literature:, Literature: A. Graves and W. V. Cronen, A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, London, 1899-1901, II, p. 723 E.K. Waterhouse, Reynolds, London, 1941, p. 45. F. Nordström, 'The Girl with a Muff', Formae, 1961, pp. 27-28. M. Postle, Sir Joshua Reynolds: The Subject Pictures, Cambridge, 1995, pp. 82, 95, fig. 33 J. Ingamels, The Wallace Collection:Catalogue of Pictures,1999, vol. I, P40, pp. 151, 153, n. 5. D. Mannings and M. Postle, Sir Joshua Reynolds: A complete catalogue of his paintings, New Haven and London, 2000, I, pp. 535-536, no.1391 Engraved: J R Smith, 1777 (oval) S.W. Reynolds (fig. 1), A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Reynolds, Formae, Sir Joshua Reynolds: A complete catalogue of his paintings, Engraved:, The present charming picture, imbued with evident sentiment and feeling, had great personal significance to the artist, not only because the model was the favourite niece of Sir Joshua Reynolds, but because the painting seems to have provided Reynolds with the idea for one of his best and most celebrated 'fancy pictures' The Strawberry Girl, 1773 (Wallace Collection, fig. 2), of which he painted several versions and for which his niece was also the model. The Strawberry Girl, , The sitter was Reynolds' niece Theophila Palmer (1756-1848), the younger daughter of John Palmer, Attorney of Great Torrington, Devon and Reynolds's sister Mary. Theophila, affectionately known as 'Offy', was named after Reynolds's mother and grandmother. Both sisters were sent to live with Reynolds in London in 1770 and Offy remained there until her marriage in 1781. She was commonly regarded as the more beautiful of the two sisters, and Reynolds was remarkably fond of her. Graves and Cronin, loc.cit. records the family ditty;, loc.cit. When I take tea, I think of "The";, When I take coffee, I think of "Offy";, So whether I'm drinking my tea or my coffee, I always am thinking of thee, my Theoffy.', In a letter dated 29 March 1831 Maria Edgeworth wrote that Theophila is 'very agreeable and good natured...enthusiastically and affectionately fond of her uncle'. Fanny Burney in her Memoirs noted that 'The Miss Palmers added to the grace of his [Reynolds's] table and of his evening circles by the pleasingness of their manners and the beauty of their persons' and '... The eldest Miss Palmer seems to have a better understanding than Offy; but Offy has the most pleasant face...'. Memoirs, While Offy, aged twenty, was away from Reynolds's house, he wrote to her remarking, 'I never was a great friend to the efficacy of precept, nor a great professor of love and affection, and therefore I never told you how much I loved you, for fear that you should grow saucy upon it. I have got a ring and a bracelet of my own picture; don't tell your sister that I have given you your choice. My compliments to all the family, and I remain, Dear Offie, you affectionate uncle'. Theophila married Robert Lovell Gwatkin (1757-1843) of Killiow, Truro, High Sherriff of Cornwall in 1780, by whom she had ten children, seven daughters and three sons. She was an amateur artist herself. Her elder sister, Mary, (1750-1820) married Murrough O'Brien, 5th Earl of Inchiquin, later 1st Marquess of Thomond. Tom Taylor noted in The Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 'It is gratifying to know that Offy's happiness was as great as her uncle and warmest friends could wish. She lived to be ninety and to see her children's children, and, affectionate to the last vividly remembered her happy girlhood under her uncle's roof and the brilliant society that found a centre there. Sir Joshua's bequest to Mrs Gwatkin was £10,000 in the three percents.', Robert Lovell Gwatkin, th, st, The Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds, The present work was painted in 1767 when Offy was eleven years old. She was the model for Reynolds in several of his best-known pictures, including Theophila Palmer Reading Clarissa Harlowe, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1771, no. 158 (fig. 3) and Simplicity (Rothchild Collection, Waddesdon Manor). Reynolds also presented her with her portrait on the occasion of her marriage in 1781. Theophila Palmer Reading Clarissa Harlowe, Simplicity, There are two technical notes at the back of Reynolds 1st leger which seem to relate to the present work, 'Offe's Picture painted with Cera & Cap. Solo-cinabro' [wax and copaiba- a balsam made from South American plants- and vermilion] and 'Offe a fatto intiera mente con Cap. & Cera/le Testa sopra in fondo preperato/con olio & biacca' [painted entirely with copaiba and wax, the head on a ground prepared with oil and white lead]. Waterhouse believed on stylistic grounds alone that the picture may have been repainted in the 1780s. Fancy pictures or 'fancies' were so-called to distinguish them from traditional commissioned portraits. Reynolds began to paint fancy pictures in the early 1770s and became increasingly fixated on the genre towards the end of his career. While Reynolds could complete the face of a portrait within a matter of hours, his subject pictures often absorbed him for months. His single figure character studies of children form the most straightforward manifestations of his fancy pictures late in the 1760s/1770s. As Martin Postle notes, 'it is clear from Reynolds's own preoccupation with them, and the critical coverage they received during his day, that the subject pictures lay at the very heart of Reynolds's practice as a painter'. The painting has descended through the same family since it was last recorded at auction in 1939 and unseen in public since its exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1896. This charming character study captures all Reynolds found endearing about his favourite niece and it is hardly surprising that he returned to the composition when painting The Strawberry Girl, one of his most important works in this genre. The picture appears to be in relatively untouched condition having been painted on panel and the pigments and technique as noted in his leger have aged well. Condition Report: The work is executed on a mahogany panel which appears stable, examination under ultra violet light reveals an opaque varnish in the darker areas, there are scattered spots of fine strokes of restoration in the background and sitter's dress and to the sitter's right cheek and neck area and bridge of her nose. Some strengthening to the clouds in the sky to the left of the sitter. Condition Report:, The work is executed on a mahogany panel which appears stable, examination under ultra violet light reveals an opaque varnish in the darker areas, there are scattered spots of fine strokes of restoration in the background and sitter's dress and to the sitter's right cheek and neck area and bridge of her nose. Some strengthening to the clouds in the sky to the left of the sitter. Condition Report Disclaimer

Vedi tutti gli oggetti diDreweattsoArte, Pittura e Arti Grafiche