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Portrait of Arthur Hill-Trevor, Lord Dungannon

Portrait Miniature
ca. 1784 - ca. 1815 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Anne Mee (b. Foldsone, ca. 1770-1851) was a British miniature painter active in the early nineteenth century. She likely trained with her father, John Foldsone, before taking lessons with George Romney. Her portrait practice supported the family financially after the passing of Mee’s father in 1784. In 1788, the poet William Hayley wrote of Mee:

‘I am sitting for him [George Romney] to a young female genius in miniature, who, at the age of seventeen, will, I trust, under his patronage, most comfortably raise, and support by her wonderful talent, a drooping family.’

Mee was celebrated during her lifetime and gained the patronage of Queen Charlotte and the Prince of Wales. Her husband, Joseph Mee, was supportive of her practice, though the diarist Farrington remarked that he ‘consented to let her paint ladies only who were never to be attended by gentlemen.’ Though reserved, he must have understood the financial incentives in letting Mee continue to paint: her practice was exceptionally lucrative, surpassing prices charged by male contemporaries like Richard Cosway.

Mee exhibited at the Royal Academy and the British Institution between 1804 and 1837.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePortrait of Arthur Hill-Trevor, Lord Dungannon (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour on ivory
Brief description
Portrait Miniature, Arthur Hill-Trevor, Lord Dungannon, by Anne Mee, watercolour on ivory, ca. 1784-1815
Physical description
Portrait miniature on ivory of Arthur Hill-Trevor, Lord Dungannon, with hairwork on the reverse, set in a metal frame.
Dimensions
  • Height: 70mm
  • Width: 58mm
Dimensions taken from Summary Catalogue of Miniatures in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Emmett Microform, 1981.
Credit line
Alan Evans Bequest, given by the National Gallery
Object history
The diarist Farrington noted that Joseph Mee only consented to Anne Mee painting female sitters. If so, and Mee followed this, this miniature is more likely to have been made before 1794.
Historical context
Portrait miniatures were frequently exchanged between loved ones and family in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain as tokens of affection and remembrance.
Subject depicted
Association
Summary
Anne Mee (b. Foldsone, ca. 1770-1851) was a British miniature painter active in the early nineteenth century. She likely trained with her father, John Foldsone, before taking lessons with George Romney. Her portrait practice supported the family financially after the passing of Mee’s father in 1784. In 1788, the poet William Hayley wrote of Mee:

‘I am sitting for him [George Romney] to a young female genius in miniature, who, at the age of seventeen, will, I trust, under his patronage, most comfortably raise, and support by her wonderful talent, a drooping family.’

Mee was celebrated during her lifetime and gained the patronage of Queen Charlotte and the Prince of Wales. Her husband, Joseph Mee, was supportive of her practice, though the diarist Farrington remarked that he ‘consented to let her paint ladies only who were never to be attended by gentlemen.’ Though reserved, he must have understood the financial incentives in letting Mee continue to paint: her practice was exceptionally lucrative, surpassing prices charged by male contemporaries like Richard Cosway.

Mee exhibited at the Royal Academy and the British Institution between 1804 and 1837.
Bibliographic references
  • Summary Catalogue of Miniatures in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Emmett Microform, 1981.
  • Anne Mee, The gallery of beauties in the court of his most excellent majesty George the Third, London, 1812.
  • Paris A. Spies-Gans, A Revolution on Canvas: The Rise of Women Artists in Britain and France, 1760-1830, New Haven and London: Yale University Press and Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 2022, p. 246.
Collection
Accession number
EVANS.164

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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