John Singleton Copley (American, 1737–1815) Portrait of Mrs. Elizabeth Coffin Amory, Bust-Length

Literature

Augustus T. Perkins, Sketch of the Life and a List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley, self-printed, Boston, 187, p. 31.
Gertrude E. Meredith, The Descendants of Hugh Amory, Cheswick Press, London: 1901, p. 347.
Barbara Neville Parker and Anne Bolling Wheeler, John Singleton Copley: American Portraits, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1938, p. 25, pl. 124 (illustrated).
Jules David Prown, John Singleton Copley: In America 1738-1774, Vol. I, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1966, p. 207, pl. 305 (illustrated as Mrs. Thomas Amory II).
Carrie Rebora Barratt and Paul Staiti, John Singleton Copley in America, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (distributed by H.N. Abrams), New York, 1995, pp. 278, 280 (illustrated).

Note

Mrs. Elizabeth Coffin Amory was the daughter of Anne Holmes and William Coffin, a successful distiller of Boston, Massachusetts, who fled to Quebec after the Boston invasion in 1776. Born in 1743, she married at age 19 her cousin, Thomas Amory II (1722-1784), the eldest son of a prominent merchant and rum distiller–a business he would later recoup after graduating from Harvard. In Boston, the pair resided in the Governor Belcher House, at the corner of Washington and Harvard Streets, and went on to have nine children together.

By the time he painted the portrait of Elizabeth, Copley had already completed a portrait of her brother-in-law, Thomas' younger brother, John, and of his wife, Katherine Greene, which now hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. John would later commission several portraits of himself, along with the present portrait of his wife, which captures the sitter's modesty in a striking life-like manner. Copley is here at the height of his talent, and demonstrates his expert handling of the brush, which he applies smoothly and delicately onto the canvas. Set against a dark background, which vividly contrasts with her white dress, Elizabeth stands out as the true focus of the painting, undisturbed by any props, companion or frivilous details–a hint at her very simple, reasonable way of life. The satin of her clothes, paired with the rather elaborate hairdo are the only elements relative to her status. Yet, her intense gaze does not provoke us or betray any pride, but merely invites us to behold the secret of her existence.

Provenance

Collection of Edward Dexter Sohier, the sitter's son-in-law, Longwood, Massachusetts, 1873.

By descent to his granddaughters.

Collection of Dr. Julia T. and Miss Sarah I. Metcalf, Los Angeles, California.

By descent to their niece.

Collection of Louisa Metcalf, Winthrop, Massachusetts, by 1966.

Estate of Louisa Metcalf.

Sotheby's, New York, sale of November 30, 2000, lot 119.

Acquired directly from the above sale.

The Papageorge Family Collection, Carversville, Pennsylvania.