Sir Thomas Lawrence
1769 – 1830
A Portrait of Mrs. Harriet Ker-Seymour (or Seymer), Seated, Half-Length, in a White Dress, her left Arm resting on an Orange Mantle
Medium:
Oil on Canvas
Category:
Dimensions:
76.2(h) x 63.5(w) cms
Framed Dimensions:
96.5(h) x 84(w) cms
Exhibitions:
Essay:
Harriet (b. 1779) was the daughter of Peter Beckford of Stepleton House, Dorset, author of Thoughts upon Hare and Fox Hunting. She married her neighbour Henry Seymer, later Ker-Seymer, of Hanford House. This portrait had evidently been begun before 14 February 1806, when a balance of 18 pounds and 8 shillings of the price of 35 guineas was noted as being outstanding in Lawrence’s ledger. It seems likely that the portrait played some part in Harriet’s match with Henry Seymer as they were married the next year in January 1807.
Provenance:
(Probably) Blakeslee sale; Mendelssohn Hall, New York, 6 April 1905;
with Thomas Agnew & Sons, London;
Frederick Sassoon (d. 1917); By inheritance to the previous owner.
Literature:
K. Garlick, 'A Catalogue of the Paintings, Drawings and Pastels of Sir Thomas Lawrence', Walpole Society, XXXIX, 1964, p. 269.K. Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, Oxford, 1989, p. 217, no. 453 (as whereabouts unknown).
Exhibitions:
New York, The Jewish Museum, The Sassoons, 3 March - 13 August 2023.
