Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A.

Commissioned by the sitter's family in 1757;

Thence by descent to Dryden Henry Sneyd (1833-1913), Ashcombe Park, Staffordshire;

By the order of whose executors sold, London, Puttick and Simpson, 8 April 1913, lot 156;

Where acquired by "Parkinthorpe," for 580 gns.;

Gordon Heath, Englefield Green and later Cape Town, by 1954;

From whom acquired by Edward Speelman Ltd, London, March 1970;

Anonymous sale ("A Connoisseur's Collection"), London, Sotheby's, 4 December 2013, lot 470;

Where acquired by the late collector.

Cape Town, National Gallery of South Africa, Pictures Mostly of the British School, 1954, no. 6.

C.R. Leslie and T. Taylor, Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds, London 1865, p. 156;

A. Graves and W.V. Cronin, A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, London 1899, vol. III, p. 911;

E.K. Waterhouse, Reynolds, London 1941, pp. 42, 97;

D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds, A Complete Catalogue of his Paintings, New Haven and London 2000, vol. I, p. 419, cat. no. 1644; vol. II, reproduced fig. 239.

Sir Joshua Reynolds produced this elegant depiction of Anne Sneyd in 1757, when still a young artist. That year he produced four portraits of Sneyd family members in masquerade dress: the present work as well as paintings of Anne's sister, Elizabeth and her husband, the Reverend William Lloyd (both in Circassian masquerade dress), and their brother John (like Anne depicted in Van Dyck dress).¹

Masquerade played an important role in eighteenth-century England. Often referred to as "The World Upside-Down," masquerades, like the type the sitter would have attended in her costume, were a popular form of entertainment for men and women of all socio-economic strata. Such balls, often erotically charged events, provided attendees the latitude to act outside of the strict social norms governing gender roles and sexual identity of the time.

¹ All four were sold at the Puttick and Simpson sale on 8 April 1913.