European Furniture & Decorative Arts

Note:

This painting is suggested to represent Lady Lawson because of its close similarity with a portrait referenced in John Hoppner's catalogue raisonné, published in 1909.[1] The description of Hoppner's Lady Lawson portrait is similar in dimensions to the present lot and similarly depicts the figure "standing in a landscape and leaning against a pillar, looking to her left; in black dress cut low." While this original work surely still existed in 1909 when the catalogue raisonné was published, Brayton Hall, the ancestral home of the Lawson family where the original painting was located, burned down in 1918, and the painting was likely destroyed. 

Dr. John Wilson, the expert on John Hoppner who wrote The life and work of John Hoppner (1758-1810) in 1992, has reviewed the present lot and noted that the paint handling style portrayed is different than that of Hoppner and that the clothing and hairstyle of this portrait date to after Hoppner's lifetime—possibly from the mid-to-late 19th century. During this period, British portraiture of this sort was exceedingly popular with the French public, leading Dr. Wilson to believe that this work is a copy made after Hoppner (or a similarly well-known contemporary of Hoppner's, William Beechey) rendered by a French artist for this growing market. That there are French labels and stamps on the stretcher supports this claim. It is possible that the original Lady Lawson portrait was copied via engraving (or possibly photographed, though this is less likely) and that this unknown French artist had access to the engraving for reference when creating the present work.

[1] William Mackay, et al., John Hoppner, R.A. [A catalogue raisonné, with sixty-four plates], P. & D. Colnaghi & Co.; George Bell & Sons, London, 1909, pp. 152