Portrait of Wilhelmina Bowlby: PD.28-2020

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Portrait of Wilhelmina Bowlby

Maker(s)

Entities

Painting

Description

Williamina Martha Arnold Bowlby (née Balfour) (1798-1834), known as Martha, was a scion of one of Edinburgh’s most distinguished mercantile families, and a distant cousin of Robert Louis Stevenson. In 1817 she married Captain Thomas Bowlby (1790-1842) of the Royal Artillery in Gibraltar. The couple lived at Bishopwearmouth in County Durham where, after his military service, Captain Bowlby was active in the timber business. They had nine children.

This portrait was one of over 160 left unfinished in Lawrence's studio at the time of his death in 1830.

Notes

History note: By descent in the sitter's family to A. Bowlby Esq.; by whom sold, London, Christie's, 22 June 1979, lot 143, where purchased by another member of the family; thence by descent; sold, Sotheby's, 5 July 2018, lot 196

Legal notes

Allocated by H. M. Government under the Cultural Gifts Scheme. Given in honour of the architect and academic Professor Sir Colin Stansfield Smith CBE (1932-2013), 2020

Measurements and weight

Height: 67.3 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Allocated (2020) by H.M. Government

Dating

19th Century
Production date: c. AD 1825 : Garlick dated the painting to after 1820. The sitter’s jewellery, dress and hairstyle point to a date close to 1825.