Oil painting, Head of a Lady, attributed to Sir Thomas Lawrence, British School, ca.1800

Portrait of a young woman, almost full-frontal and showing the head and neck only, with dark brown hair and wearing a greyish-white, ruffled collar.

Bequeathed by Henry Spencer Ashbee

Bequeathed by Henry Spencer Ashbee (1834-1900) in 1900. Ashbee was the founder and senior partner of the merchants Charles Lavy and Company of London, who specialised in silks. He was elected Fellow of the Society of Arts 1877, and travelled around the world in 1881. He was the author of numerous articles, particularly on bibliographical subjects. He collected the finest library concerning the life and work of the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes outside Spain, and his bequest to the V&A of watercolours and over 40 oil paintings includes many illustrating Don Quixote. Ashbee's library also included humorous books, and most notoriously a vast collection of erotica, which he catalogued under the title The Index of Forbidden Books. His library was left to the British Museum. (Parkinson, Ronald, "Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860", Victoria & Albert Museum, HMSO, London, 1990, p. xx).

Head of a Lady is an oil sketch on panel and, if we accept its attribution to Lawrence, may be a rare example of his work on this support. However, its attribution is in question. Kenneth Garlick, upon examining the work in 1958, suggested that it should be re-attributed to George Harlow, one of Lawrence’s pupils and assistants between 1802-1804; significantly Garlick omitted the painting from his later catalogue raisonné, Sir Thomas Lawrence: A Complete Catalogue of the Oil Paintings, (Oxford: Phaidon, 1989). If we accept Garlick’s attribution, then we may date the work to ca.1802-1804.

The status and purpose of the sketch is ambiguous but sheds light on the evolution of a portrait in Lawrence’s studio. Its unfinished state, may allude to its role as a preparatory study for a larger work, to be worked up by Lawrence or his assistants. Alternatively, due to pressures of work, it may be one of the many unfinished portraits in Lawrence’s studio. Additionally, given the sheer volume within Lawrence’s oeuvre of these types of painted heads set against an area of dark brown paint, it may represent an initial sitting with a subject, intentionally laid aside (Lawrence, or in this case his assistant, then painting a copy of it or reworking it on another canvas). As such, it stands as an autonomous work of art in its own right (for a discussion of this type see Lucy Peltz in A. Cassandra Albinson, Peter Funnell and Lucy Peltz, (eds.), Thomas Lawrence: Regency Power and Brilliance, Yale and London, 2011, p.289). This group of painted heads is distinct from Lawrence’s chalk-on-canvas drawings which also stand as autonomous works of art (see A. Cassandra Albinson in Albinson, Funnell and Peltz, (eds.), 2011, p. 133). Lawrence wrote when only twenty: ‘I should think it always better that the picture, whatever it is, be first accurately drawn on the canvas, because tho’ it may be afterwards effaced by the colour, yet it serves to impress the object on the memory…’ The V&A work, and other sketches of its kind, may reflect the importance Lawrence attached to this careful preparation in his studio.

Lawrence was the most celebrated portraitist of the Regency and Napoleonic age, both in England and abroad. His prodigious talent was early recognised when George III appointed him painter-in-ordinary in 1792 at the age of twenty three. Soon after, in 1794, the Royal Academy of Art elected him as a full academician. He later became its President in 1820, having been knighted in 1815. Lawrence was known for his technical brilliance and in addition to painting oils - which showcase his bravura brushwork - he also executed delicate pastel portraits.

Head of a Lady is an oil sketch on panel and may be a rare example of Sir Thomas Lawrence working on this support as opposed to canvas. However, its attribution to Lawrence is in question and it may, alternatively, be attributed to his one-time pupil and assistant, George Harlow, who shared Lawrence’s studio between 1802-04. The sketch is similar to other sketches by Lawrence which show the sitter’s head, fully worked up oil, encircled by a penumbra of dark-brown paint. Its status and purpose is unclear but it, and others, may offer a valuable insight into Lawrence’s working method. Lawrence was the most celebrated portraitist of his age, both at home and abroad, and was patronised by international statesmen and society figures as well as royalty and military leaders.

1909-1900