George Romney

Emma Hamilton as a wood nymph

Lot Closed

January 25, 07:45 PM GMT

Estimate

5,000 - 8,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

George Romney

Dalton 1734 - 1802 Kendal

Emma Hamilton as a wood nymph

Pencil

443 by 272 mm; 17½ by 10¾ in.

Henry Scipio Reitlinger (1882-1951), London (L.2274a);
Sir John Clermont Witt (1907-1982), London (L.646a);
sale, London, Christie’s, 6 December 2012, lot 196

Emma Hart, later Lady Hamilton (1765-1849) was introduced to George Romney in the summer of 1782 and for the next decade she became his most important muse.

Although the present drawing does not seem to be directly connected to a known oil painting of Emma Hamilton, Romney did depict Emma holding a flute in his Calypso, a work painted for George, Prince of Wales in 1792.¹The drawing has formed part of two distinguished collections, that of Henry Scipio Reitlinger, an art historian and that of Sir John Clermont Witt, a solicitor and patron of the arts.

1. A. Kidson, The Paintings of George Romney, vol. III, New Haven 2015, p. 674, no. 1487