Attributed to Sir Thomas Lawrence PRA, FRS (1769-1830) and Later

Attributed to Sir Thomas Lawrence PRA, FRS (1769-1830) and Later
Portrait of Elizabeth Knight (née Spelman) (1762-1800), half-length, wearing a fur-lined red dress, seated in an interior
Oil on canvas
91.3 x 71cm; 36 x 28in

Provenance:
By family descent from the sitter to Philippa Baumgartner (née Knight);
By family descent to John Percy Baumgartner (1812-1903);
By family descent to R. B. Beart;
By family descent to Mrs P. V. Pigot, Northwich (by 1951);
Private Collection

Literature:
Probably Kenneth Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence (London, 1954), p.45 (as unfinished and with incorrect size);
Probably Kenneth Garlick, "A Catalogue of the Paintings, Drawings and Pastels of Sir Thomas Lawrence" in The Walpole Society, vol. 39, 1964, p.117 (as unfinished and with incorrect size)

Elizabeth Spelman was the wife of Samuel Knight of Milton House, Cambridge. She died suddenly on 17th June 1800 “after a few hours illness only” (Milton Church, Cambridge). Knight was one of Thomas Lawrence's earliest patrons. In 1777, when Lawrence was only eight years old, he drew a miniature of Knight's neighbour Charles Pepys, and the drawing remains in the Knight family collection (see Garlick, 1964, p.240). Garlick records that Lawrence's portrait of Elizabeth was unfinished, and the present work was clearly completed by a later hand.