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G0639
Paintings: G0639
Title
Anne Oldfield
Technique
Oil on canvas
Subject
Artist
Kneller, Godfrey Bt (Sir) [ Copy after ]
Dimensions
Height: 73.7cm
Width: 61cm
Width: 61cm
Provenance
Charles Mathews
Other number
RW/CKA 50
Mathews 3
Mathews 3
Exhibition history
1833 London, Queen's Bazaar, Oxford Street, "Mr Mathews's Gallery of Theatrical Portraits" (50)
1951 London, Tate Gallery, "Pictures from the Garrick Club" (26)
The authors of previous catalogues confused this portrait with G0641: an entry in the James Winston's manuscript catalogue of pictures at the Garrick Club 1835-1843, now in Wayne State Library, Detroit, http://elibrary.wayne.edu/record=b5150616~S47 confirms that the head only portrait G0641 was the 1836 gift from Mrs Mathews, and that the half length arrived at the club with the bulk of the Charles Mathews collection.
The sitter wears a loose garment in purple and white, with a red drape over the right arm. Around her neck is a thin silver chain with a ruby cross.
She was probably the finest portrayer of ladies of quality in the first quarter of the 18th century. In his preface to “The Provok'd Husband” (in which Anne Oldfield played Lady Townly), Cibber claimed that she had the "constant Admiration of those Spectators, who have the Pleasure of living while She is an Actress". The prompter Chetwood eulogised her "meridian lustre, a glow of charms not to be beheld but with a trembling eye!"
The sitter wears a loose garment in purple and white, with a red drape over the right arm. Around her neck is a thin silver chain with a ruby cross.
She was probably the finest portrayer of ladies of quality in the first quarter of the 18th century. In his preface to “The Provok'd Husband” (in which Anne Oldfield played Lady Townly), Cibber claimed that she had the "constant Admiration of those Spectators, who have the Pleasure of living while She is an Actress". The prompter Chetwood eulogised her "meridian lustre, a glow of charms not to be beheld but with a trembling eye!"
