George Romney

(Beckside 1734-1802 Kendal)

Portrait of Elizabeth Burgoyne, half-length, in a white dress

Footnotes

Provenance
By descent to Miss Blackett
Her husband, Sir Alfred Bower, and thence by descent to the present owner

Literature
T. Humphry Ward and W. Roberts, Romney A Biographical and Critical Essay with a Catalogue Raisonne of his works, London and New York, 1904, vol. II, p. 21
A. Kidson, George Romney A Complete Catalogue of his Paintings, New Haven and London, 2015, vol. I, p. 105, no. 180a

Alex Kidson also records an untraced version of the present portrait which he dates to 1781: 'no doubt a belated marriage portrait as well as a pendant for Romney's second portrait of her husband'. The existence of an unpaid-for copy is recorded in Romney's accounts by 1785 and it seems that if there were further sittings for this, they must have taken place in that year, for which the sitter book is lost. The two versions differ in the treatment of the sky. While the untraced versions of the Burgoynes have been traditionally regarded as the prime versions, the quality of the present portrait would appear to question that tradition.

Mrs Burgoyne had seventeen appointments with Romney between 23 January and 13 December in 1781 and she cancelled seven more. This is a large number for this scale of commission and Kidson suggests that Mrs Burgoyne modelled for other works - the early version of Serena, for example. The following lot portraying Mr Burgoyne is its companion.