Property from an English Private Collection
Angelica Kauffmann, R.A.
Portrait of William Chambers (1724?–1777), Rector of Achurch, seated at a table writing a letter, a landscape with a pyramid in the background
Lot Closed
December 7, 11:07 AM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from an English Private Collection
Angelica Kauffmann, R.A.
Coira 1741–1807 Rome
Portrait of William Chambers (1724?–1777), Rector of Achurch, seated at a table writing a letter, a landscape with a pyramid in the background
inscribed and dated on the letter lower right: Rom. June the 4 176[...]
oil on canvas
unframed: 94.2 x 74 cm.; 37⅛ x 29⅛ in.
framed: 115.4 x 93.8 cm.; 45½ x 36⅞ in.
William Chambers (1724?–1777), Rector of Achurch, Northamptonshire;
Thence by descent to his eldest son William Cecil Chambers (1768–1817), Hodsock Priory, Nottinghamshire;
Thence by inheritance to his wife, Anne Chambers, née Mellish (1781–1855);
Thence by inheritance to her cousin, William Leigh Mellish (1813–1864), who married Margaret Anne Cunard (1820–1901);
Thence by descent to their son, Colonel Henry Mellish (1856–1927);
Thence by inheritance to his cousin Sir Charles James Buchanan (1899–1984), 4th Baronet;
Thence by inheritance to the present owner.
Painted in Rome, this is an early work by Angelica Kauffmann, depicting clergyman William Chambers, rector of Achurch. Both artist and sitter travelled to Italy in the first half of the 1760s, returning to England in the summer 1765, indicating this work could only have been painted before then.
We are grateful to Dr Bettina Baumgärtel, Director of the Angelica Kauffman Research Project, for her assistance in cataloguing this lot.