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John Singleton Copley

Baron Graham, 1804

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 144.8 x 118.8 cm (57 x 46 3/4 in.)

framed: 174 x 145.1 x 12.4 cm (68 1/2 x 57 1/8 x 4 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Gordon Dexter

Accession Number

1942.4.1

Artists / Makers

John Singleton Copley (painter) American, 1738 - 1815

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Provenance

Robert Graham [1744-1836]; bequeathed to Sir George Henry Smyth [1784-1852], 6th baronet, Berechurch Hall, Colchester, Essex;[1] bequeathed to his grandson and heir, Thomas George Graham White [d.1878], Wethersfield Manor and Berechurch Hall, Colchester, Essex; (his estate sale, Christie, Manson and Woods, London, 23 March 1878, no. 25); bought by "Graves".[2] Martha Babcock Greene Amory [Mrs. Charles Amory, 1812-1880], Boston, the artists's granddaughter;[3] her husband, Charles Amory [1808-1898], Boston;[4] their daughter, Susan Greene Amory Dexter [Mrs. Franklin Gordon Dexter, 1840-1924], Boston;[5] her son, Gordon Dexter [1864-1937], Boston;[6] his widow, Isabella Hunnewell Dexter [c. 1871-1968];[7] gift 1942 to NGA.

[1] Robert Graham's will, dated 12 May, 19 September and 25 October 1833 and 21 September 1836, was proved on 15 October 1836 (Public Record Office, London; copy in NGA curatorial files).

[2] Catalogue of the Valuable Collection of Pictures of Thomas George Graham White, Esq., Deceased, sale, Christie Manson & Woods, London, 23 March 1878, 6. "Graves is listed as the purchaser in the annotated copy of the catalogue at Christies, copy in NGA curatorial files, and by Algernon Graves, Art Sales From Early in the Eighteenth Century to Early in the Twentieth Century, 3 vols. (London, 1908-1921), 1:149. He may be the London dealer Henry Graves (1806-1892). Augustus Thorndike Perkins, A Sketch of the Life of and a List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley, (Boston, 1873), 129, listed the portrait among the paintings by Copley in England, but did not give the owner's name.

[3] Martha Babcock Amory, The Domestic and Artistic Life of John Singleton Copley, (Boston, 1882), 239, note (published after Mrs. Amory's death in 1880). For Mrs. Amory's dates see John William Linzee, The Linzee Family of Great Britain and the United States of America, 2 vols. (Boston, 1917), 2:766.

[4] Augustus Thorndike Perkins, Supplementary List of Paintings by John Singleton Copley, (Boston, after 1873), 18-19; for Charles Amory's dates see Linzee 1917, 2:766.

[5] Frank W. Bayley, A Sketch of the Life and a List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley, (Boston, 1910), 43; and The Life and Works of John Singleton Copley, (Boston, 1915), 122; for Mrs. Dexter's birthdate see Linzee 1917, 2:781-782; her death date is in "Proceedings of the New England Historic Genealogical Society" (meeting of 1 April 1925), The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 74 (July, 1925), 325.

[6] Theodore Bolton and Harry Lorin Binsse, "John Singleton Copley," The Antiquarian 15 (December 1930): 116; for Dexter's dates see Who Was Who in America, vol. 1, 1897-1942 (Chicago, 1966), 320.

[7] Mrs. Dexter died at the age of 97, in New York City (obituary, The New York Times, 16 December 1968, 47).

Associated Names

Amory, Charles
Amory, Martha Babcock Greene
Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd.
Dexter, Gordon
Dexter, Gordon, Mrs.
Dexter, Susan Greene Amory
Graham, Robert, Sir
Graves Art Gallery
Smyth, 6th Bt., George Henry, Sir
White, Thomas George Graham

Bibliography

n.d.: Perkins, Augustus Thorndike. Supplementary List of Paintings by John Singleton Copley. Boston, n.d. [after 1873]: 18-19.

1804: "Royal Academy". Daily Advertiser, Oracle, and True Briton, 30 April 1804: 3.

1804: "Royal Academy Dinner". Morning Herald (30 April 1804): 3.

1804: "Royal Academy. Exhibition, No. I". Daily Advertiser, Oracle, and True Briton. 5 May 1804: 3.

1804: "Royal Academy". St. James Chronicle, or British Evening Post (12-15 May 1804): 4.

1804: "Royal Academy". The Morning Post. (28 April 1804): 3.

1804: "Royal Academy". Times (28 April 1804): 2.

1832: Cunningham, Allan. The Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors and Architects. vols. London, 1832: 5:184.

1873: Perkins, Augustus Thorndike. A Sketch of the Life and a List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, 1873: 18-19, 129.

1882: Amory, Martha Babcock. The Domestic and Artistic Life of John Singleton Copley, R.A.. Boston, 1882: 239, 241-242, 244.

1910: Bayley, Frank W. A Sketch of the Life and a List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, 1910: 43.

1915: Bayley, Frank W. The Life and Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, 1915: 33, 122.

1930: Bolton, Theodore and Harry Lorin Binsse. "John Singleton Copley." The Antiquarian 15 (December 1930): 116.

1965: John Singleton Copley 1738-1815, Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1965-1966: no. 102.

1966: Prown, Jules David. John Singleton Copley, vol. 2. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1966, pp. 373-374, 388, 421, fig. 653, no. 129.

1968: Richardson, Edgar P. From El Greco to Pollock: Early and Late Works by European and American Artists. Exh. cat. Baltimore Museum of Art, 1968: 41, no. 22.

1970: American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 44, repro.

1975: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 394, fig. 570, color repro.

1980: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 137, repro.

1981: Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 31, repro. 35.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 390, no. 555, color repro.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 152, repro.

1995: John Singleton Copley in England. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1995-1996: no. 40.

1995: Miles, Ellen G. American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 87-90, color repro. 89.