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Anne, Lady de la Pole
George Romney (English, 1734–1802)
1786
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
241 x 148.9 cm (94 7/8 x 58 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Given in memory of Governor Alvan T. Fuller by the Fuller Foundation
Accession Number61.392
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Anne (1758-1832) married Sir John William de la Pole, 6th Baronet (1757-1799), a Member of Parliament for West Looe in Cornwall, in 1781. Romney’s account books indicate that Anne and Sir John, whose full-length portrait is now in the Wadsworth Atheneum, had eight sittings with the artist between January and May 1786. Anne’s long white dress probably connotes modesty, while the foxglove at lower right—a rare instance of an identifiable plant species in Romney’s work—symbolizes youth and stateliness. This painting set a world record for any work of art when it appeared at auction in London in 1913.
Provenance1786, John William de la Pole (b. 1757 - d. 1799), 6th Bart., Shute House, near Axminster, Devonshire [see note 1]; 1799, by descent through the family to Sir Frederick Arundell de la Pole (b. 1850 - d. 1926), 11th Bart., Shute House, Devonshire; June 13, 1913, De La Pole sale, Christie's, London, lot 125, sold for £41,370 to Duveen Brothers, Inc., London; by 1919, sold by Duveen to Herbert Stern (b. 1859 - d. 1919), 1st Baron Michelham, Hellingley, Sussex; 1919, by inheritance to Stern's wife, Aimee Geraldine Bradshaw Stern (d. 1927), Baroness Michelham, London and Paris; November 23, 1926, Michelham sale, Hampton's, London, lot 297, sold for £46,200 to Agnew's, London (stock no. 6622); 1926, sold by Agnew's to Alvan Tufts Fuller (b. 1878 - d. 1958), Boston [see note 2]; 1959, to Fuller Foundation Inc., Boston; 1961, gift of Fuller Foundation to the MFA. (Accession Date: May 10, 1961)
NOTES:
[1] Original commission from the artist by the husband of the sitter. Anne Templer (d. 1832) of Stover House, Devonshire, married John William de la Pole (d. 1799) on January 9, 1791. [2] See Agnew's, 1817-1967 (London, 1967), n.p.
NOTES:
[1] Original commission from the artist by the husband of the sitter. Anne Templer (d. 1832) of Stover House, Devonshire, married John William de la Pole (d. 1799) on January 9, 1791. [2] See Agnew's, 1817-1967 (London, 1967), n.p.