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JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY (American, 1738-1815). Portrait of Mary Clarke (Mrs. Samuel Barrett), circa 1765-1770. Oil on copp...

Lot: 66012, Auction: 2009 November Signature European & American Art #5030

Sold for: Not Sold
Ended: Nov 10, 2009
Item Activity: 0 Internet/mail bidders
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Description:

JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY (American, 1738-1815)
Portrait of Mary Clarke (Mrs. Samuel Barrett), circa 1765-1770
Oil on copper
5-3/4 x 4-3/4 inches (14.6 x 12.1 cm)

PROVENANCE:
By descent to the sitter's daughter, Mrs. Mary E. Cabot;
Mrs. James Putnam, Boston;
Dr. Marian C. Putnam, New Haven;
Dr. and Mrs. Monroe A. McIver, Cooperstown, New York;
Private collection, New York.
Babcock Galleries, New York.

EXHIBITED:
Spink-Leger, London, Head and Shoulders, November 16 - December 17, 1999. no. 7.

LITERATURE:
A.T. Perkins, A Sketch of the Life and a List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley, 1873, p. 36.
F.W. Bayley, The Life and Works of John Singleton Copley, Boston, 1915, p. 56.
B.N. Parker and A.B. Wheeler, John Singleton Copley: American Portraits in Oil, Pastel and Miniature, with Biographical Sketches, Boston, 1938, p. 243
J. D. Prown, John Singleton Copley: In America 1738-1774, I, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1966, p. 208, illus. 247

The famous colonial portraitist John Singleton Copley painted many memorable likenesses of the most prominent figures of his day, including his fellow Bostonians, Paul Revere and Samuel Adams, who played crucial roles in America's fight for independence.

The subject of this rare Copley miniature was his sister-in-law, Mary Clarke Barrett. She was the eldest child of Richard Clarke, a wealthy merchant and consignee for the East India Company, who was affiliated with the Boston Tea Party. The artist painted Mary in Boston during his engagement to her sister Susanna, before moving to England in 1774 at the urging of fellow portraitists Benjamin West and Sir Joshua Reynolds. In this intimate work, Copley demonstrates his tightly controlled brushwork and penchant for textures, making almost tactile the velvet ribbon of her hat and her pearl earring, satin gown, and feathered rose.

A companion piece depicting Mary's husband, Samuel Barrett, is in the collection of George B. Foste, Maryland.

Copley, John Singleton: . American painter, 1738-1815

Condition Report*:

Under UV examination, scattered in-painting throughout sitter's face, chest, and hat, and along top and right edges of miniature and in background of upper right quadrant; otherwise good condition; not examined outside of frame.

*Heritage Auction Galleries strongly encourages in-person inspection of items by the bidder. Statements by Heritage regarding the condition of objects are for guidance only and should not be relied upon as statements of fact, and do not constitute a representation, warranty, or assumption of liability by Heritage. All lots offered are sold "AS IS".

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