- 1595
Robert Feke (1707 - 1752)
Estimate
40,000 - 50,000 USD
bidding is closed
Description
- ROBERT FEKE
- PORTRAIT OF MRS. TENCH FRANCIS
- Oil on canvas
- 36 by 28 1/2 in.
In what appears to be the original frame; Bears a label on the back of the frame: Mr. Willing, Bryn Mawr.
Painted circa 1746.
Label on the back of the stretcher: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Robert Feke, Portrait of Mrs. Tench Francis, 11-1969-2. Lender: Mr. E. Shippen Willing, Jr.
Painted circa 1746.
Label on the back of the stretcher: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Robert Feke, Portrait of Mrs. Tench Francis, 11-1969-2. Lender: Mr. E. Shippen Willing, Jr.
Provenance
Mrs. Tench Francis (formerly Elizabeth Turbutt) to her daughter Margaret Tench Francis (who married Edward Shippen);
descended to Edward's son Richard Shippen;
to Richard's daughter Elizabeth Shippen (died 1871 in Burlington, New Jersey);
to her brother Edward Shippen, Philadelphia;
Katherine Shippen Packard:
to her nephew Edward Shippen Willing in c. 1905;
to his son E. Shippen Willing, Jr., Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Sotheby's New York, Important Americana, January 21, 2012, sale 8823, lot 167.
descended to Edward's son Richard Shippen;
to Richard's daughter Elizabeth Shippen (died 1871 in Burlington, New Jersey);
to her brother Edward Shippen, Philadelphia;
Katherine Shippen Packard:
to her nephew Edward Shippen Willing in c. 1905;
to his son E. Shippen Willing, Jr., Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Sotheby's New York, Important Americana, January 21, 2012, sale 8823, lot 167.
Literature
Foote, Henry Wilder. Robert Feke: Colonial Portrait Painter (Cambridge, 1930, rpt. Kennedy Galleries, 1969);
R. Peter Mooz, "Robert Feke: A Philadelphia Story," in American Painting to 1776: A Reappraisal, ed. by M.G. Quimby (Winterthur Conference Report, 1971): 181-216.
R. Peter Mooz, "Robert Feke: A Philadelphia Story," in American Painting to 1776: A Reappraisal, ed. by M.G. Quimby (Winterthur Conference Report, 1971): 181-216.
Catalogue Note
The subject is Elizabeth Turbutt (1708-1800), daughter of Foster and Bridgett Turbutt of Talbot County Maryland. She was born March 17, 1708 and married to Tench Francis of Philadelphia on December 29, 1724. She died in Philadelphia on May 1, 1800.
This portrait is recorded in the principal work on Feke by Henry Wilder Foote on pages 149 and 150 as Mrs. Tench Francis No. 1 the portrait is illustrated opposite page 150 beside a second and larger portrait of Mrs. Tench Francis.
The companion portrait to Mrs. Francis of Tench Francis is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Tench Francis, no. 2 in Foote, p. 148-9). An earlier portrait (perhaps prior to 1740) of this sitter is referred to as "Mrs. Tench Francis, no.1" in Foote, p. 149-150 (ill.).
Feke painted her and her husband each two times.