Mansion House Antiques & Fine Art

Description

ABOUT THE SITTER ACTRESS SARAH SIDDONS (1755-1831)
( Her Original Portrait was painted In 1785 by the famous artist Thomas Gainsborough )

I am delighted to offer this fine 19th Century Passage Portrait which is a beautifully rendered oil on canvas and bears verso the makers ink stamp ' G.Rowney & Co London W ' dating to 1894 and is set within a very decorative period gilt frame which greatly enhances the appearance.
The portrait is reproduced after the original which is in the National Gallery Lodon and is a rare opportunity to acquire a unique work which has been very accurately painted in great detail.

Sarah Siddons (née Kemble 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh-born actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century.

Siddons was born Sarah Kemble in Brecon, Brecknockshire, Wales, the eldest daughter of Roger Kemble, a Roman Catholic, and Sarah "Sally" Ward, a Protestant.

She was the elder sister of John Philip Kemble, Charles Kemble, Stephen Kemble, Ann Hatton, and Elizabeth Whitlock, and the aunt of Fanny Kemble.

Although the theatre company included most members of the Kemble family, Siddons' parents initially disapproved of her choice of profession. At that time, acting was only beginning to become a respectable profession for a woman.

From 1770 until her marriage in 1773, Siddons served as a lady's maid and later as companion to Lady Mary Bertie Greatheed at Guy's Cliffe near Warwick.

In 1774, Siddons won her first success as Belvidera in Thomas Otway's Venice Preserv'd. This brought her to the attention of David Garrick, who sent his deputy to see her as Calista in Nicholas Rowe's Fair Penitent, the result being that she was engaged to appear at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

She was most famous for her portrayal of the Shakespearean character, Lady Macbeth, a character she made her own,as well as for fainting at the sight of the Elgin Marbles in London.

The Sarah Siddons Society, founded in 1952, continues to present the Sarah Siddons Award annually in Chicago to a distinguished actress.

ABOUT THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH 1727-1788

Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. He surpassed his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds to become the dominant British portraitist of the second half of the 18th century. He painted quickly, and the works of his maturity are characterised by a light palette and easy strokes. He preferred landscapes to portraits, and is credited (with Richard Wilson)
as the originator of the 18th-century British landscape school. Gainsborough was a founding member of the Royal Academy.

He was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woollen goods, and his wife, the sister of the Reverend Humphry Burroughs

The artist spent his childhood at what is now Gainsborough's House, on Gainsborough Street. He later resided there, following the death of his father in 1748 and before his move to Ipswich. The original building still survives and is now a dedicated House to his life and art.

When he was still a boy he impressed his father with his drawing and painting skills, and he almost certainly had painted heads and small landscapes by the time he was ten years old, including a miniature self-portrait.Gainsborough was allowed to leave home in 1740 to study art in London, where he trained under engraver Hubert Gravelot[1] but became associated with William Hogarth and his school. He assisted Francis Hayman in the decoration of the supper boxes at Vauxhall Gardens,and contributed to the decoration of what is now the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children.

In 1746, Gainsborough married Margaret Burr, an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Beaufort, who settled a £200 annuity on them. The artist's work, then mostly consisting of landscape paintings, was not selling well. He returned to Sudbury in 1748–1749 and concentrated on painting portraits.

In 1759, Gainsborough and his family moved to Bath, living at number 17 The Circus.[5] There, he studied portraits by van Dyck and was eventually able to attract a fashionable clientele. In 1761, he began to send work to the Society of Arts exhibition in London (now the Royal Society of Arts, of which he was one of the earliest members)

In 1774, Gainsborough and his family moved to London to live in Schomberg House, Pall Mall.
During the 1770s and 1780s Gainsborough developed a type of portrait in which he integrated the sitter into the landscape. A splendid example of this is his portrait of Frances Browne, Mrs John Douglas (1746-1811) which can be seen at Waddesdon Manor.

In 1780, he painted the portraits of King George III and his queen and afterwards received many royal commissions
In 1784, royal painter Allan Ramsay died and the King was obliged to give the job to Gainsborough's rival and Academy president, Joshua Reynolds. Gainsborough remained the Royal Family's favorite painter, however.

He died of cancer on 2 August 1788 at the age of 61. According to his daughter Peggy, his last words were "van Dyck" He is interred in the churchyard St. Anne's Church, Kew, Surrey (located on Kew Green).

CONDITION: Very Good Order Throughout

FRAMED MEASUREMENTS:
Height 29 Inches ( 74 cm )
Width 23 Inches ( 58.5 cm )

DELIVERY:
UK Mainland Add + £50 ( Next Day Recorded )
Worldwide Supply Extra ( Request A Quote )

TELEPHONE ENQUIRIES: 07765 856171

Quote Our Ref 0784