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Henry William Pickersgill RA (London 1782-1875) L'improvisatrice image 1

Henry William Pickersgill RA (London 1782-1875) L'improvisatrice image 2

Lot 65^*

Henry William Pickersgill RA
(London 1782-1875)
L'improvisatrice

Old Master Paintings

5 July 2023, 14:00 BST

London, New Bond Street

Sold for £10,240 inc. premium

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Henry William Pickersgill RA (London 1782-1875)

L'improvisatrice
oil on canvas
88.4 x 68.1cm (34 13/16 x 26 13/16in).

Footnotes

Provenance
Collection of Henry, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780-1863)
Sale, Sotheby's, London, 8 April 1998, lot 47, where purchased by the present owner

Exhibition
London, Royal Academy, 1823, no. 261
London, British Institution, 1825, no. 85 (lent by Marquess of Lansdowne)

Literature
A. Jameson, Companion to the Most Celebrated Private Galleries of Art in London, London, 1844, p. 327, cat. no. 150
G.E. Ambrose, Catalogue of the Collection of Pictures belonging to the Marquess of Lansdowne K.G. at Lansdowne House London and Bowood, Wilts, London, 1897, p.75, cat. no. 199 (said to be a portrait of Miss Pickersgill)

It is likely that the present portrait was painted in 1823 and was acquired for Bowood by the 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne shortly after. The sitter has traditionally been identified as the artist's daughter, who modelled for several of his portraits including Syrian Maid, now in the Tate, London.

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