Circle of Henry Robert Morland

This charming depiction of a young blonde woman was executed by an artist in the circle of Henry Robert Morland, an eighteenth-century British painter who specialized in so-called “fancy pictures,” which typically showed scenes of domestic occupation. An adaptation of Morland’s A Laundry Maid Ironing (London, Tate, inv. no. N01403), this bust-length version of that painting focuses on the woman, who has been excised from her surroundings. Her hands, and the iron and fabric they hold, were excluded, as was the chair in which she sits.

Morland frequently repeated his compositions, many of which were popularized through their replication across media. This work was repeated: in paint (Wirral, Lady Lever Art Gallery, inv. no. LL 3538; and formerly collection of J.P. Morgan, New York, Sotheby’s, 28 January 2010, lot 250); in pastel (London, Sotheby’s, 19 March 2003, lot 121; and London, Sotheby’s, 31 March 1999, lot 88); on ivory (San Francisco, Butterfield’s, 19 March 1990, lot 1701); and as a hand-colored mezzotint, circa 1770, by Philip Dawe (London, British Museum, inv. no. 1863,1114.501).