
Ghislaine Howard
Sale Coordinator
This auction has ended. View lot details



Sold for £5,760 inc. premium
Our European Ceramics specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialist
Sale Coordinator
Elizabeth was the wife of Captain George Henry Towry (1767-1809), a Royal Navy officer best known for his service as commander of the frigate HMS Dido, in the action of 24 June 1795 in the Western Mediterranean Sea during the French Revolutionary Wars. Elizabeth and George married in 1802, a marriage noted for its "greatest harmony and most perfect happiness" until her untimely death in 1806 which left him grief-stricken.
The original drawing (squared for transfer) for the present lot is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, no. NPG D17263 and inscribed The Late Mrs. Towry/ after Lawrence for Captn T./ May 1808. A further drawing relating to an oval version of the present lot, dated December 1807 is also in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery no. NPG D17336.