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Anne Seymour Damer (née Conway)

5 of 8 portraits on display at Bath Preservation Trust, Bath

Anne Seymour Damer (née Conway), by Sir Joshua Reynolds, based on a work of 1772-1773 -NPG 594 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Regency Portraits Catalogue

Anne Seymour Damer (née Conway)

studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds
based on a work of 1772-1773
21 1/4 in. x 17 1/2 in. (540 mm x 445 mm)
NPG 594

Inscriptionback to top

Inscribed on back of canvas in ink: Mrs Anna Damer/born 1748/died 1826/sold April 1864/at Christie's, written over a similar inscription in pencil.

This portraitback to top

Mrs Damer had sittings from Reynolds in October 1772 for a three-quarter-length probably for her husband the Hon John Damer, son of Lord Dorchester; it was exhibited RA 1773 (236) and belonged in 1845 to her nephew Colonel Dawson Darner and later to the Earl of Portarlington, sold in New York 1895 (Sir Ellis Waterhouse, Reynolds, 1941, p 63). The NPG reduced version, an indifferent copy but probably from Reynolds's studio, is mentioned briefly in Algernon Graves & V. W. Cronin, History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1899, p 228. For some years it belonged to J. H. Anderdon whose annotated RA catalogues in the RA library are of great interest.

Physical descriptionback to top

Head and shoulders slightly to left in a yellow dress trimmed with green and gold braid, white bodice edged with gold, turban head-dress with black ribbons round throat down to breast (in the original the ribbons ended in a locket); dark hair in long plaits, hazel eyes, pale pink complexion.

Provenanceback to top

Bunyard sold Christie's 27 April 1864 (108) bought Anderdon; Christie's 31 May 1879 (214) bought Colnaghi and bought from them 1879.

Exhibitionsback to top

Second Exhibition of National Portraits, South Kensington, 1867 (532) lent by J. H. Anderdon.

Reproductionsback to top

(of three-quarter-length original)
Mezzotints by J. R. Smith 1774 and S. W. Reynolds 1820.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.

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