John Hoppner (1758-1810)

Portrait of Deborah Charlotte (Dee) Johnstone, later Mrs. Charles Edmund Nugent
Oil on canvas
30 x 25 in.

PROVENANCE:
Georgiana Charlotte Nugent,
Wayne Albert Bankes (Sixth son of sitter’s only child),
Alfred Bankes, Wolfeton House, Dorchester 1914,
Messrs. Colnaghi & Obach, London,
Arthur Tooth & Sons, London,
E. R. Wood, Toronto, Canada,
Parke-Bernet, New York, Nov 3, 1967,
Newhouse Galleries, New York,
Private Collection, Ohio.

LITERATURE:
William McKay and W. Roberts, Supplement and Index by John Hoppner, R.A., 1914, page 38

Painted Circa 1795

Deborah Charlotte Dee, was born 1756 in Lisbon Portugal, and was first married to George Johnstone (1730-1787).  She then married Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Edmund Nugent (1759-1844) in 1790.

JOHN HOPPNER  (1758-1810) Born Whitechapel, London 25 April 1758, ‘Son’ of a German surgeon.  His mother was a German Attendant or lady-in-waiting at the palace, and it was rumored that he was the natural son of the future George III. As he grew older, he was brought up in the palace to be a chorister in the Chapel Royal.  George III made him a small allowance to enable him to become a painter.  He entered the Royal Academy Schools 6 March 1775.  Won Silver Medal for drawing from life 1778, Gold Medal 1782.  Exhibited at Royal Academy (168) 1780-1809.  Elected Associate Royal Academician 1793, Royal Academician 1795.  In 1782 he married Phoebe Wright, daughter of Patience Wright, an American modeler in wax and ardent patriot in the American cause.  She is credited with having acted as a spy in London for the benefit of Benjamin Franklin, then the American Ambassador in Paris.  Hoppner consequently lost the patronage of George III, under pressure from the Benjamin West, although he managed to retain the patronage of Queen Charlotte.  He enjoyed a highly successful portrait practice and his portraits of Royal Princess led to his appointment as ‘Portrait Painter to the Prince of Wales’ 1789.  Died London 23 January 1810.  Buried in St. James’s Chapel Cemetery, Hampstead Road, London.

Brian Stewart and Mervyn Cutten, The Dictionary of Portrait Painters in Britain up to 1920, 1997.