Samuel Cotes
Anne Grace Gardner (née Hinde) (1735-91), wearing blue gown and blue feathers in her upswept hair, 1763
Watercolour and bodycolour on ivory
Oval, 1.7 in. (43 mm) high
Signed and dated on the reverse engraved with ‘SC / 1763'
Philip Mould & Co.
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com This lively portrait of Anne Gardner shows her dressed as a society hostess – much in the guise of the...
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com
This lively portrait of Anne Gardner shows her dressed as a society hostess – much in the guise of the aristocratic women painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds and shown at the Royal Academy summer exhibition. Cotes would have been well aware of Reynolds burgeoning success as a society portrait painter and has imbued the same animation that the oil painter brought to the canvas to his small watercolour portrait. Likely painted in the same year as this portrait of Mrs Gardner is Reynolds portrait of Levina Bennet, where she wears a similar blue cloak with matching ribbon in her upswept hair.[1]
Little is known of Anne Grace Gardner and without the inscription on the reverse of her frame, her identity may have been lost. Born in 1735, this portrait may have been painted around the time of her marriage to Dr John Gardner (or Gardiner) (b. 1723), President of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh (1782-4). The couple had one daughter in 1771 called Fearne, who married in Edinburgh in 1791, the year of her mother’s death. A portrait of Fearne, aged around 34, by Sir henry Raeburn, is in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland.[2]
Samuel Cotes was born in London and was taught how to paint by his older brother Francis, who would later become one of the leading portrait painters in oils. Cotes exhibited miniatures in both ivory and enamel at the Society of Artists from 1760 and at the Royal Academy from 1769, when he exhibited his ambitious large work of the actress Mrs. Yates in the role of Electra [Victoria and Albert Museum, London]. By exhibiting the large miniature in the same room as works by leading artists like Sir Joshua Reynolds, Cotes was attempting to assert the significance of miniatures as a serious art form, and not one that should remain relegated corner of the room. This desire can be seen, to some extent in the present, early work by Cotes. The rich colouring, which can be seen most clearly in the blue dress, is an effect achieved through the addition of extra gum into the watercolour, developing a greater saturation of colour.
Cotes enjoyed a long and successful career, retiring a few years before his death in 1818 to take up residence in Paradise Row, Chelsea, London.
[1]Now in Birmingham City Art Gallery.
[2]Accession number: NG 1223
This lively portrait of Anne Gardner shows her dressed as a society hostess – much in the guise of the aristocratic women painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds and shown at the Royal Academy summer exhibition. Cotes would have been well aware of Reynolds burgeoning success as a society portrait painter and has imbued the same animation that the oil painter brought to the canvas to his small watercolour portrait. Likely painted in the same year as this portrait of Mrs Gardner is Reynolds portrait of Levina Bennet, where she wears a similar blue cloak with matching ribbon in her upswept hair.[1]
Little is known of Anne Grace Gardner and without the inscription on the reverse of her frame, her identity may have been lost. Born in 1735, this portrait may have been painted around the time of her marriage to Dr John Gardner (or Gardiner) (b. 1723), President of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh (1782-4). The couple had one daughter in 1771 called Fearne, who married in Edinburgh in 1791, the year of her mother’s death. A portrait of Fearne, aged around 34, by Sir henry Raeburn, is in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland.[2]
Samuel Cotes was born in London and was taught how to paint by his older brother Francis, who would later become one of the leading portrait painters in oils. Cotes exhibited miniatures in both ivory and enamel at the Society of Artists from 1760 and at the Royal Academy from 1769, when he exhibited his ambitious large work of the actress Mrs. Yates in the role of Electra [Victoria and Albert Museum, London]. By exhibiting the large miniature in the same room as works by leading artists like Sir Joshua Reynolds, Cotes was attempting to assert the significance of miniatures as a serious art form, and not one that should remain relegated corner of the room. This desire can be seen, to some extent in the present, early work by Cotes. The rich colouring, which can be seen most clearly in the blue dress, is an effect achieved through the addition of extra gum into the watercolour, developing a greater saturation of colour.
Cotes enjoyed a long and successful career, retiring a few years before his death in 1818 to take up residence in Paradise Row, Chelsea, London.
[1]Now in Birmingham City Art Gallery.
[2]Accession number: NG 1223
Provenance
Christie's, London, 25 November 1980, lot 59;Private Collection.
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