Poppy Harvey-Jones
Head of Sale
Lot 79
John Hoppner R.A.(London 1758-1810)Portrait of William Gifford reading a book
15 April 2021, 10:30 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £2,550 inc. premium
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John Hoppner R.A. (London 1758-1810)
Portrait of William Gifford reading a book
oil on canvas
76.2 x 63.5cm (30 x 25in).
oil on canvas
76.2 x 63.5cm (30 x 25in).
Footnotes
Provenance
Sale, Christie's, London, 13 May 1899
Collection of George W. Agnew
With Agnew's London, 1966
Collection of the Hon. Mrs. Price, Frankton Manor, Rugby, 1970
Exhibited
Birmingham, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, 1903, cat. no. 3 (lent by George W. Agnew)
Literature
W. McKay and W. Robert, The Works of John Hoppner, R.A., London, 1909, pp. 96-7
Engraved
in line and stipple for The Gentleman's Magazine, in 1827
William Gifford (1757- 1826), author of satirical poems The Baviad (1791) and The Maeviad (1795), was the first editor of The Quarterly Review (1809-1824). According to McKay and Roberts (see literature), Gifford and John Hoppner were good friends; The Maeviad was dedicated to the artist. Gifford left his house in London to Hoppner's widow and bequeathed a sum of money to the artist's children. Another portrait by Hoppner of the sitter, seated and holding a small book, was previously in the collection of John Murray. Lacelles Hoppner, John's son, exhibited a portrait of Gifford at the Royal Academy in 1812, cat. no. 311.