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 (1779 - 1853) was the daughter of Peter Beckford MP of Steepleton House, Dorset, and his wife Louise, second daughter of George Pitt, 1st Baron Rivers. She married her neighbour Henry Seymer, later Ker-Seymer, of Hanford House. This portrait was evidently already a work in progress 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.
Harriet was a talented artist in her own right and became a member of the Academy of Fine Arts, Florence in 1797. Though only a few works by her are recorded she was clearly a talented artist who specialised in portrait miniatures, most notably of Lady Emma Hamilton in 1802 now in the Royal Museums, Greenwich (ID MNT0127). She also painted a portrait of her brother William Horace Beckford, 3rd Lord Pitt Rivers after a drawing by Richard Cosway now with The Limner Company, London.
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.
