95

BENJAMIN WEST

American, 1738-1820

Master Copley and His Elder Sister

ca. 1777, ink on paper
signed Benj.n West lower left; titled lower center
sight: 4 5/8 x 7 3/4 in., frame: 7 5/8 x 10 1/8 in.

  • Provenance:
    John Singleton Copley (1738-1815)
    Likely to his widow, Susanna Clarke Copley (1745-1836)
    And thence to their son, John S. Copley, Jr., Lord Lyndhurst (1772-1863)
    Likely to Lord Lyndhurst's widow, Georgiana Goldsmith Copley (1801-1901)
    And thence to their daughter, Georgiana Susan Copley, Lady Du Cane (1838-1926)
    Sold at the Rt. Hon. Lord Aberdare and Other Collections Sale Christie's, London, June 3, 1932, lot 70*
    Purchased by Copley Amory, Jr. (1890-1964), the painter's great-great-great grandson
    Descended to his sister, Katherine Amory Smith (1908-1996)
    To her daughter, Mary Smith Willcox (1933-2015), the painter's great-great-great-great granddaughter
    And to her son, the present owner

    * Lord Aberdare was John Singleton Copley's great-great grandson. According to records in the Frick Art Reference Library, Lot 70 in the Aberdare Sale consisted of three items: West's drawing of Master Copley and his Elder Sister; another West drawing of Miss Susannah Copley (1776-1785), signed and dated 1777; and a third unidentified piece. The lot apparently sold for £6.6.
  • Literature:
    - For a reference to this drawing as having hung on Lord Lyndhurst's bedroom wall, see Martha Babcock Amory, The Domestic and Artistic Life of John Singleton Copley, R.A., Boston, 1882, pp. 100-101.
    - Benjamin West's 1777 drawing of Miss Susannah Copley was illustrated in Jane Kamensky, A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley, New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2016, p.340.
  • Notes: Grogan & Company thanks Monica Reuss for her assistance in cataloging this lot.

    The work depicts two young children seated closely together with a gameboard on a table in front of them. The girl wears a dress with sash and a wide-brimmed hat with ribbon and bow; the boy wears his hair in long bangs and is looking at the game pieces on the table. The crest rail of a chair is partially visible behind him to the right. The crest rail of a chair is partially visible behind him to the right. The sister is Elizabeth (Betsy) Copley (1770–1866), John Singleton Copley's eldest child who later married Gardiner Greene of Boston. Next to her sits her younger brother, John Singleton Copley, Jr. (1772–1863) , who as an adult remained in England, becoming the 1st Baron of Lyndhurst. In this drawing, Betsy appears to be wearing the same dress she wears in John Singleton Copley's large group portrait, The Copley Family, 1776-77, now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.


    Affixed to a wood panel on the reverse is an old, typed excerpt from Martha Babcock Amory (1812-1880), The Domestic and Artistic Life of John Singleton Copley, R.A., Boston, 1882, reading
    "We can scarcely imagine a more congenial sphere for a man of genius than this London House; every resource for art, study, and society without; reposes without dullness within. It was the favorite resort during and after the Revolution of all Americans of any repute who visited England; of those who leaned to the doctrine of liberty which agitated the public mind of Europe as well as in America, and also of those who like the venerable patriarch of the family considered it no less than a holy command to do honor unto Caesar. Among those were the Olivers and Hutchinsons, connections of Mrs. Copley through her Winslow ancestry, many of whom had been distinguished in the aristocratic circles of the colonial court, like the first minister in his diplomatic dignity, scantily paid and coldly received. There came also those distinguished in art, whether of the Academy or not; many a sketch thrown off in the carelessness of social intercourse is preserved; among them a pen and ink drawing of "Master Copley and his Sister -- the daughter above alluded to, --by Benjamin West, hung on the walls of Lord Lyndhurst's bed-room until the last days of his life.
    (p. 100-101 Life of J.S.C. by Martha B. Amory)"
    Further inscribed in ink in the righthand margin:
    "This drawing was bought by me at [the] Aberdare sale at Christie's – 1932/ (To Lord Aberdare from? his grandmother, a daughter of Lord Lyndhurst) C.A. Jr."
  • Condition: Paper not as toned as it appears in these images. One small spot of staining above chair along right edge. Paper affixed to mat on front of sheet, with old adhesive extending approx. 1/4 in. in from edge of sheet on all sides. Some chipping to top and bottom edge of sheet.

    Please note: All property is sold "AS IS" and any statement, whether oral or written, is given as a courtesy and shall not be deemed as a guarantee, warranty, or representation of the authenticity of authorship, physical condition, size, quality, rarity, importance, provenance, exhibitions, literature or historical relevance of the property or otherwise. The absence of a condition report does not imply the item is in perfect condition.

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November 5, 2022 11:00 AM EDT
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