Called Edith Phelips, Mrs Carew Mildmay (1694-1722) but possibly Anne Phelips, Mrs John Horner (b.1705)
attributed to Enoch Seeman the younger (Gdańsk c.1694 – London 1744)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1736 (inscribed on reverse)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
622 x 457 mm (24 1/2 in x 18 in)
Order this imageCollection
Montacute House, Somerset
NT 597919
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Called Edith Phelips, Mrs Carew Mildmay (1694-1722) but really Anne Phelips, Mrs John Horner (b.c1702 - ?1755), attributed to Enoch Seeman the younger (c.1694 – 1744), inscribed with name of sitter and date 1736 (on reverse). A portrait of a young woman, half-length, facing, brown hair dressed with pearls, a single ringlet on her right shoulder, wearing a white satin décolleté dress, tied with a green bow at the bosom; a green silk shawl draped on her left shoulder. If the inscribed date is correct and the costume suggests it then this is Anne Phelips, the daughter of Edward Phelips IV (1678-1734) and his first wife Ann Phelips (1687-1707), who married John Horner of Mells, Somerset (1689 - 1747). Comparison with another known portrait by Michael Dahl confirms the identity of this sitter as Anne. She was the eldest half-sister and first cousin of Edward Phelips V.
Provenance
On loan from the Phelips family since 1931; purchased with the aid of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the V&A Museums and Galleries Commission Purchase Grant Fund in 1989.
Credit line
Montacute House, The Phelips Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Verso: name of supposed sitter and dated 1736 Recto: bottom left, inscribed with part of an inscription, ... ELIPS. Recto: Gilt tablet affixed to bottom of frame, inscribed in black: EDITH PHELIPS / 1694 -
Makers and roles
attributed to Enoch Seeman the younger (Gdańsk c.1694 – London 1744), artist previously catalogued as manner of Michael Dahl (Stockholm 1659 - London 1743), artist
References
Montacute House, Somerset, 1991 [The National Trust; Malcolm Rogers] 1991, p.62 "LORD CURZON'S BEDROOM PAINTINGS Called Edith Phelips, Mrs Carew Mildmay (1694-1772) Dated 1736, which, if correct, as the costume suggests it is, makes the sitter too young to be Edith Phelips. Attributed to Enoch Seeman (1694-1745), 1736." Montacute House, Somerset, 1997 [The National Trust; Malcolm Rogers] 1991, revised 1997 , p.62 "LORD CURZON'S ROOM PAINTINGS Called Edith Phelips, Mrs Carew Mildmay (1694-1772) Dated 1736, which, if correct, as the costume suggests it is, makes the sitter too young to be Edith Phelips. Attributed to Enoch Seeman (1694-1745), 1736." Montacute House, Somerset, 2004-2006 [The National Trust; Malcolm Rogers] 2000, revised 2004, reprinted 2005, 2006, p.50 "LORD CURZON'S ROOM PAINTINGS Called Edith Phelips, Mrs Carew Mildmay (1694-1772) Dated 1736, which, if correct, as the costume suggests it is, makes the sitter too young to be Edith Phelips. Attributed to Enoch Seeman (1694-1745), 1736."