View full screen - View 1 of Lot 23. Mrs. John Scollay (Mercy Greenleaf).
23

John Singleton Copley

Mrs. John Scollay (Mercy Greenleaf)

Estimate:

150,000

to
- 250,000 USD

22

23

24

John Singleton Copley

John Singleton Copley

Mrs. John Scollay (Mercy Greenleaf)

Mrs. John Scollay (Mercy Greenleaf)

Estimate:

150,000

to
- 250,000 USD

Lot sold:

126,000

USD

John Singleton Copley

1738 - 1815

Mrs. John Scollay (Mercy Greenleaf)


signed and dated J.S.Copley.Pinx.1763 (lower left)

oil on canvas

35 1/4 by 28 inches

(89.5 by 71.1 cm)

Painted in 1763. 

Please contact the American Art department for this condition report: (212) 606 7280 or Charlotte.Mitchell@sothebys.com.


In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.

NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The sitter
Lucy Cushing Whitwell (Mrs. William Parker (granddaughter of the above)
Prentiss Parker, 1915 (by descent)
Mrs. Calvin Josselyn Ellis, West Hanover, Massachusetts (by descent)
Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York, 1983
Private collection, New York, 1983
Estate of the above, 1987
Vose Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts
Bonnie Crane, Boston, Massachusetts, 1992
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1992
Frank W. Bayley, The Life and Works of John Singleton Copley Founded on the Work of Augustus Thorndike Pike, Boston, Massachusetts, 1915, p. 220
Barbara Neville Parker and Anne Bolling Wheeler, John Singleton Copley, American Portraits in Oil, Pastel and Miniature with Biographical Sketches, Boston, Massachusetts, 1938, p. 179
The Historical Survey, Works Progress Administration, American Portraits, 1620-1825, Founded in Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, 1939, no. 1922, p. 362
Jules David Prown, John Singleton Copley in America, 1738-1774, vol. 1, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1966, p. 228, fig. 106, illustrated
New York, Kennedy Galleries, Inc., Summits: Outstanding American Paintings, 1763-1985, November-December 1985, no. 1, pp. 4-5, illustrated
San Diego, California, Timken Museum of Art, John Singleton Copley and Margaret Kemble Gage: Turkish Fashion in 18th Century America, December 1998-April 1999, no. 2, p. 16, illustrated
New York, Babcock Galleries, Face to Face, May-June 2012
New York, Driscoll Babcock Galleries, This is How We Do It, September-October 2012
Katonah, New York, Katonah Museum of Art, Eye to I: 3,000 Years of Portraits, October 2013-February 2014, p. 43, illustrated
Mercy Greenleaf was the daughter of Reverend Daniel Greenleaf and the wife of John Scollay, both prominent figures in 17th century Boston. Mr. Scollay, a chairman of the Boston Selectman and member of the Sons of Liberty, commissioned this portrait of his wife as a pendant to another portrait of his own likeness (presently unlocated). A related pastel of Mrs. Scollay is in the collection of Harvard Art Museums and a pastel of Mr. Scollay is in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.