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Portrait of a woman and her four daughters (Maria Cosway?)

Maker

(artist)
1742-1821

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1759-1838

Title

Portrait of a woman and her four daughters (Maria Cosway?)

Date of Production

(?) 1779 - 1821

Medium

pen and brown ink, brown wash, watercolour on laid paper, all four corners cut

Dimensions

Height: 21.2 cm
Width: 16.8 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.780

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords








Label Text

The miniaturist Richard Cosway was an avid collector of old master drawings, and his ability to combine suggestions of the style or costume details of the work of earlier artists such as Van Dyck increased his popularity with contemporary sitters.

Provenance

Foster's [? unclear verso inscription]; F.R. Meatyard (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d. (£2.5); Witt Bequest 1952

Literature

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 13

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: lower left, graphite: "W Cosway"; lower right, graphite, illegible: "St[?]". Verso: upper centre, graphite, very hard to read, last line underlined: "Foster / N 70 Siging[?] Street / New York[?] Street / Grosvenor Sq".

Collector's mark: Verso: lower right, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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