Lot 109: Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys (1806-1883)

Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys (1806-1883)
Portrait of Mrs Elizabeth Clabburn (1786/5-1862), bust-length
signed with a monogram (lower left) and inscribed 'Elizabeth Clabburn/Aged. 75' (upper right)
oil on panel
24 x 19 5/8 in. (60.9 x 49.8 cm.)

Rome, Royal Commission International Fine-Arts Exhibition, British Section, 1911, no. 88, lent by Edmund Meredith Crosse.
Brighton, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery and Sheffield, Mappin Art Gallery, 1974, no. 85, pl. 85.
Norwich, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Frederick Sandys and the Pre-Raphaelites, October 2001 - January 2002, no. 115.

Art Journal, London, 1862, p. 137.
J. Comyns Carr, Coasting Bohemia, London, 1914, p. 126.
T. Crombie, 'Some portraits by Frederick Sandys', Apollo, November 1965, p. 400.
B. Elzea, Frederick Sandys: A catalogue raisonée, Woodbridge, Antique Collectors Club, 1999, cat. 2.A.29, pp. 162-3, illustrated.

London, Royal Academy, 1862, no. 350.
London, Royal Academy, Winter Exhibition, 1905, no. 271, lent by Edmund Meredith Crosse.
W. H. Clabburn, and by descent to his eldest daughter Mary Louisa (Mrs Edmund Meredith Crosse) and her husband (until at least 1911).
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 13 November 1963, lot 347, and thence by descent.

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All lots removed to off-site warehouse the day after the sale - 2 weeks free storage
Elizabeth Denn Clabburn was the wife of Thomas Clabburn of Norwich (1788-1858), a shawl manufacturer. The present picture was undoubtedly painted at the request of their eldest son, William H. Clabburn, who commissioned multiple portraits of his wife, daughters and of himself from Sandys throughout the 1860s. The 17th Century Dutch costume and presentation of the sitter won the praise of the audience at the Royal Academy where it was exhibited in 1862. The Art Journal described the work as 'a vigorous example of pencilling - firm, with much life-like expression.'