Old Masters, British & European Paintings - 7th September 2016
Lot 174
Sir Thomas Lawrence P.R.A. (1769-1830)Portrait of Mrs. Letitia Balfour (1745-1838)
Estimate £4,000 - £6,000 | Hammer £6200
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Description
Sir Thomas Lawrence P.R.A. (1769-1830)
Portrait of Mrs. Letitia Balfour (1745-1838), seated, wearing a bonnet
Oil on canvas,
91 x 71cm; 36 x 28in
Provenance:
Sotheby's, London, British Paintings 1500-1850, 12th March 1986, Lot 56
Maryanne Wilkins (Wilkins & Wilkins, art dealers), St. Christopher's Pl., London, who sold to (10th December 1993)
David Fuller, Oakmead Rd., London
Private English Collection
The portrait dates to the second half of the 1790s. The canvas is stamped: J. Middleton, 81 St. Martin's Lane. John Middleton was a major supplier of canvases etc. to Lawrence from at least 1790. Lawrence owed the substantial sum of £400 to Middleton in 1801 (Farington Diary).
The sitter's son, Blayney Townley Balfour was painted (unfinished) by Lawrence c.1810. (Catalogue of Paintings by K. Garlick, No. 769, Page 273).