30/06/2026
During Old Masters week we are showing off this fabulous portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence PRA.
The sitter is Harriet Ker-Seymer (1779 - 1853) who was around 27 years old when this portrait was painted. Harriet was a talented artist in her own right and became a member of the Academy of Fine Arts, Florence in 1797. Though only a few works by her are recorded she was clearly a talented artist who specialised in portrait miniatures, most notably of Lady Emma Hamilton in 1802 now in the Royal Museums, Greenwich (ID MNT0127). She also painted a portrait of her brother William Horace Beckford, 3rd Lord Pitt Rivers after a drawing by Richard Cosway now with The Limner Company, London.
This portrait was evidently already a work in progress before 14 February 1806 when a balance of 18 pounds and 8 shillings of the price of 35 guineas was noted as being outstanding in Lawrence’s ledger. It seems likely that the portrait played some part in Harriet’s match with Henry Seymer as they were married the next year in January 1807.
For sale at Rafael Valls Ltd, London
A Portrait of Mrs. Henry Ker-Seymour (or Seymer), Seated, Half-Length, in a White Dress, her left Arm resting on an Orange Mantle
Oil on Canvas
30 x 25 inches (76.2 x 63.5 cms)
Provenance: (Probably) Blakeslee sale; Mendelssohn Hall, New York, 6 April 1905;
ith Thomas Agnew & Sons, London;
rederick Sassoon (d. 1917);
By inheritance to the previous owner.
Literature: K. Garlick, ‘A Catalogue of the Paintings, Drawings and Pastels of Sir Thomas Lawrence’, Walpole Society, ###IX, 1964, p. 269.
K. Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, Oxford, 1989, p. 217, no. 453 (as whereabouts unknown).
Exhibited: New York, The Jewish Museum, The Sassoons, 3 March - 13 August 2023.
