JOHN HOPPNER, R.A. | NATURE, WHEN UNADORNED, ADORNED THE MOST

Mrs. Rachel Beer, Chancellor House, Tunbridge Wells;

Her deceased sale, London, Christie's, 22 July 1927, lot 102;

Anonymous sale, London, Phillips, 21 June 1994, lot 36 (where unsold).

W. McKay and W. Roberts, The Works of John Hoppner, London 1909, pp. 303-4.

ENGRAVED:

C. Knight, 1 January 1795, 12 3/4 by 10 1/2 in.;

R. B. Lodge, in the English Illustrated Magazine, October 1888, p. 25.

Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), long term loan, until 2020.

The portrait was first engraved in 1795, shortly after its creation. In the nineteenth century the woman was said to be Mrs. Hoppner, but considering other likenesses of the latter, the model here cannot be the artist’s wife. The poetic title refers to the woman’s casual appearance, and is emphasized by the presence of the bird cage hanging at upper left and the grape vines growing on the stone facade.