Anne Seymour Damer (1748-1828), After the Antique English, 1780

Bequeathed by the artist, as part of her studio, in 1828 to her cousin Louisa Campbell, daughter of Lord William Campbell and wife of Sir Alexander Johnston, Chief Justice of Ceylon(1775-1849);
By descent to Louisa Charlotte Campbell Johnston, who married Sir William Trollope,10th.Bt., in 1894;
Thence by family descent to the present owners

Overall the condition of the terracotta is good. There is wear and dirt to the surface consistent with age including a scratch at the front of her neck. There are a few areas of restoration including to the lower edge at the reverse. There are two circular vents on the top and back of the head.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Anne Seymour Damer (1749-1828) was one of the most prominent female artists of Georgian England. Born into a literary whig family, she was encouraged as a sculptor by Horace Walpole, who eventually bequeathed to her his villa at Strawberry Hill. Walpole regarded her artistic talents so highly that he added an inscription to her terracotta eagle reading 'Anne Damer made me, not Praxiteles.' Classicism was a central thread of Damer's sculptural development. Her works are imbued with a severe neoclassicism and are often signed in Greek. Damer, who was a dedicated student of the Greek and Latin languages, travelled extensively, visiting Sir Horace Mann in Florence and Sir William Hamilton in Naples. In Florence she would have encountered the celebrated antique Niobe Group, from which the present terracotta bust of Niobe is taken. Damer's female subjects are perhaps her most celebrated and include her classicizing portrait busts of Elizabeth (née Farren), Countess of Derby, and her close friend, the writer Mary Berry, both of which are in the National Portrait Gallery, London [inv. NPG 4469; inv. NPG 6395].

RELATED LITERATURE
F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique. The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900, New Haven and London, 1981, pp. 274-279, no. 66, pl. 145; A. Yarrington, 'Damer, Anne Seymour (1749-1828),' Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford, 2004, online edn, Jan 2008