Isabella Simpson
Sir Henry Raeburn, RA (Stockbridge 1756 – Edinburgh 1823)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1803 - circa 1805
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1270 x 1016 mm (50 x 40 in)
Place of origin
Scotland
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1246447
Caption
Second wife of William Simpson (1742–1808), a director of the Royal Bank of Scotland. The warm, low light suggests a pause during an evening walk and the sitter’s affinity with nature. A pendant portrait of William by Raeburn remains in the possession of his descendants.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Isabella Simpson (later Mrs Burroughs) by Sir Henry Raeburn, RA (Stockbridge 1756 – Edinburgh 1823), circa 1803/05. A nearly full-length portrait, seated beneath a tree, turned to the right, gazing at the spectator, her hands clasped on her lap. She has light brown hair and wears a white high-waisted dress with short sleeves, her red cloak hung on the tree behind her. A cloudy sky and distant horizon on the right.
Provenance
According to Sir William Armstrong (1901), this painting belonged to the Mitchell-Innes family; it was with Dowell's, Edinburgh, in 1896; with Lesser (1849 - 1911), from whom William McEwan bought it for £2,500 in 1896; by descent to his daughter, Margaret McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald Greville (1863-1942). The bequest of Margaret (Anderson) McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald - later Dame Margaret - Henry Fulke Greville, DBE (1863-1942) from probate records linked with the donation of the property to the National Trust in 1943. This item found on the record for Polesden Lacey pictures, drawings etc., the Gun Room Lavatory, page 133.
Credit line
Polesden Lacey, The McEwan Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Sir Henry Raeburn, RA (Stockbridge 1756 – Edinburgh 1823), artist
References
Armstrong 1901: Sir Walter Armstrong, Sir Henry Raeburn, with an introduction by R. A. M. Stevenson, and a biographical and descriptive catalogue by J. M. Caw, New York 1901, p.111, repd Pinnington 1904: Edward Pinnington, Sir Henry Raeburn, RA, London 1904, p.247, no.595 Mackie 1993: David Mackie, Raeburn: Life and Art, unpublished PhD thesis, Edinburgh University, 1993, pp.797-798
