Poppy Harvey-Jones
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Lot 75
Studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds(Plympton 1723-1792 Richmond)Portrait of Susanna Jane Davidson, bust-length, in a pink dress
8 December 2021, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £5,100 inc. premium
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Studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds (Plympton 1723-1792 Richmond)
Portrait of Susanna Jane Davidson, bust-length, in a pink dress
oil on canvas
60.8 x 47.2cm (23 15/16 x 18 9/16in).
oil on canvas
60.8 x 47.2cm (23 15/16 x 18 9/16in).
Footnotes
Provenance
Most probably the portrait which was listed by Graves and Cronin ('Head size, canvas 23 x 17 in.', op. cit.), sold at Christie's, April 24, 1875, Lot 422 (Sam Mendel, owner) (to Bristow for £136 10) from whom acquired by
L. Lesser (according to a label on the reverse, which states that it sold for £500)
Private Collection, UK
Literature
A. Graves and V. Cronin, A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA, London, 1899, p. 233 (as Sir Joshua Reynolds)
A further portrait of Susannah Davidson, holding a lamb was sold by Christie's, London on 17 November 1989, lot 51 and was engraved. In his 2000 catalogue, however, David Mannings was unaware of the present portrait, although intriguingly he appears to have conflated the provenance of the two portraits and he records what appear to be two separate sittings for Miss Davidson and two separate payments, suggesting that Reynolds did paint two portraits of this sitter: he dates the 1989 Christie's portrait to 1762-64 and notes that there are three appointments with Miss Davison [sic) on 15, 20 and 22 December, 1762 (all at 11) and then two appointments in 1764: May 22 and Oct. 29 (at 11), the latter cancelled. A first payment of 15 guineas is recorded in the Ledger on 15 December 1762, and a second payment of the same sum is entered some time between 24 July 1765 and 12 June 1766 (see: D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds, A Complete Catalogue of his Paintings, New Haven and London, 2000, cat. 483, pp. 160-161).