A scene along the Thames River in Twickenham with modest functional structures on the wooded banks bustling with activity. Barges with sails float on the water. A man leads two horses from the shore while other horses ford the river. A man with a companion pushes a wheelbarrow while a family strolls in the middle distance. On the far shore smoke billows from a chimney stack among a cluster of buildings
Alternative Title:
Wooded river landscape and Thames at Twickenham
Description:
Title, artist and date on brass plate on frame: Scene at Twickenham by J. Laporte. 1785., Title from 2005 Christie's appraisal: A wooded river landscape, traditionally identified as The Thames at Twickenham., and Signed lower left: J. Laporte 1785.
Subject (Geographic):
Thames River (England), and Twickenham (London, England)
Title from dealer's catalog., Inscribed on verso: Purchased for me by Mrs. Forster at Strawberry Hill; 10th May 1842. R. R. Preston. Liotard by himself. A legacy to Mr. Horace Walpole from Mrs. Delany 1788., Blackened pearwood frame., and Sitter in profile to the left, red cap.
Sir Edward Walpole (1706-1784) was the fourth child and second son born to Robert Walpole (1676-1745), chancellor of the Exchequer and first prime minister of Great Britain, and his wife Catherine Shorter (1782-1737). His younger brother was the author and antiquarian collector Horace Walpole (1717-1797). Edward Walpole graduated from Eton (1718) and King’s College, Cambridge (1725) before becoming master of pleas in the Office of the Exchequer in 1727 and clerk of the pells, a lifetime appointment, when his older brother Robert resigned from that position in 1739. Walpole also served in Parliament from 1730 until 1768 representing in succession Lostwithiel and Great Yarmouth and became a Knight of the Bath in 1753. With his common-law wife Dorothy Clement (1715?-1739) he was the father of one son and three daughters. Sir Edward Walpole died on January 12, 1784; he was buried at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor., Unknown artist., Miniature set in bracelet clasp decorated with brightwork, with a fixed flange on the left and a removable slide on the right., and For further provenance information, see the custodial history note in the Guide to the Sir Edward Walpole and Dorothy Clement Family Papers (LWL MSS 37).
Sophia Matilda, Princess of Gloucester (1773-1844), was the daughter of Maria Walpole (1736-1807), Duchess of Gloucester, and her second husband William Hanover, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1743-1805). She was a great granddaughter of King George II and niece of King George III., Princess Sophia Duchess of Gloucester inscribed on verso in unknown hand., Eglomise mount and rectangular gilt-wood and gesso frame., and For further provenance information, see the custodial history note in the Guide to the Sir Edward Walpole and Dorothy Clement Family Papers (LWL MSS 37).
Subject (Name):
Sophia Matilda, Princess of Gloucester, 1773-1844,
Title from dealer's catalog., Gilt-metal bracelet clasp frame., Signed by the artist with intials S. S. in lower left., and Also known as: Unknown Lady in White, Pink and Blue Dress.
