European & British Art

John Linnell

Portrait of Mrs. William Wilberforce and Child

VAT reduced rate

Lot Closed

July 14, 01:46 PM GMT

Estimate

8,000 - 12,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

John Linnell

British

1792 - 1882

Portrait of Mrs. William Wilberforce and Child

signed and dated J Linnell fecit 1824 lower right

oil on panel

Unframed: 32.5 by 26.5cm., 12¾ by 10½in.

Framed: 47 by 42cm., 18½ by 16½in.

James Philips, Samuel Palmer and His Circle, The Arts Council of Great Britain, London, 1957, p. 29

Patrick J. Noon, English Portrait Drawings and Miniatures, exh. cat., Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, 1979, p. 101

Katharine Crouan, John Linnell: A Centennial Exhibition, exh. cat., Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, 1982-83, p. 31

David Linnell, Blake, Palmer, Linnell & Co.: The Life of John Linnell, Lewes, 1994, p. 376, no. 113 (as Mrs William Wilberforce)

London, Royal Academy, 1824, no. 50 (as Portrait of Mrs. W. Wilberforce)

The present work depicts Mary Frances Wilberforce née Owen. Her father was John Owen, Secretary of the Bible Society at Harrow. She married William Wilberfoce (1798-1897), the eldest son of the philanthropist and abolitionist of slavery, William Wilberforce (1759-1833). The child is probably her son, William, born on 6 December 1821. Linnell’s introduction to the Wilberforce family was probably through George Stephen. Stephen was a relative of the sitters and also an early patron of the artist (Patrick Noon, English Portrait Drawings and Miniatures, 1979, p. 101).

The same year, Linnell painted another version, in watercolor and bodycolour over pencil, with some scraping out, on a scored gesso ground on panel, which is now in the Paul Mellon Collection. The present work has been untraced since it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1824.