Andrew Plimer, Portrait of a Woman, Possibly Joyce, Lady Lake, ca. 1790

Chicago:

Maggie Keenan, “Andrew Plimer, Portrait of a Woman, Possibly Joyce, Lady Lake, ca. 1790,” catalogue entry in Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan, The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, vol. 3, ed. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024), https://doi.org/10.37764/8322.5.1468.

MLA:

Keenan, Maggie. “Andrew Plimer, Portrait of a Woman, Possibly Joyce, Lady Lake, ca. 1790,” catalogue entry. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan. The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, edited by Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, vol. 3, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024. doi: 10.37764/8322.5.1468.

See the artist’s biography in volume 4.

Andrew Plimer’s portrait of a woman, possibly Joyce, Lady Lake, was once attributed to Richard Cosway (1742–1821), which speaks to the stylistic similarities between the two artists.¹ However, the portrait bears Plimer’s characteristically delicate cross-hatching. The sitter’s hair reveals multiple layers of underpainting, including the blue-sky background. She is depicted in a gauzy décolleté dress, with strings of pearls atop her shoulder and clustered in her powdered hair.² It resembles an outfit Lady Lake once wore to court, described as “a dress of silver satin . . . looped up with chains of patent pearl beads.”³ The dress’s lifted collar has similarities to those in paintings by Anthony Van Dyck (Flemish, 1599–1641), while its gauzy quality was popular at the end of the eighteenth century.

Joyce Lake (1745–1834) was born to John and Joyce Crowther on March 1, 1745, in London.⁴ John was the proprietor of the Bow porcelain factory, but he went bankrupt in 1763, which may have incentivized the arrangement of his daughter’s marriage. His effects were sold in March and May of 1764, and Joyce married Sir James Winter Lake (1741–1807) a month later.⁵ As the 3rd Baronet, Lake profited from his family’s involvement in the Hudson’s Bay Company, using it to amass a collection of British portraits and prints.⁶

Plimer was notorious for idealizing his sitters—Joyce would have been around forty-five years old in this portrait—but there is some evidence that this flattering portrayal was based in fact. John Thomas Smith, a close friend to the Lakes, wrote in 1788: “Lady Lake, who then retained much of her youthful beauty, by her elegance of language and extreme affability charmed every one.”⁷ These qualities made her a popular subject for portraits, and she was also painted by Cosway, Francis Cotes (1726–1770), and possibly Charles Robertson (ca. 1760–1821).⁸ Confusingly, two of those works portray her with blue eyes, in contrast to the caramel-brown rendered in this portrait.⁹ Despite such inconsistencies, the Nelson-Atkins miniature has been identified as Lady Lake since an 1865 exhibition, just thirty years after Lady Lake’s death at the age of ninety.¹⁰

Notes

1. See Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Portrait Miniatures on Loan at the South Kensington Museum (London: Whittingham and Wilkins, 1865), 111, no. 1248, where it was described as “Portrait of Joyce, Lady Lake, daughter of John Crowther, Esq., married Sir James Lake, Bt. about 1782. Ivory. R. Cosway, R.A.”

2. The pearl headpiece accessory may have also converted to a brooch.

3. “Fashionable World: The Regent’s Drawing Room, in celebration of his Royal Highness’s birthday,” The Morning Post, London, June 18, 1819, 2.

4. “Joyce Crowther,” England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538–1975, FHL film no. 374458, 374459, digitized on Ancestrylibrary.com.

5. They married on June 14, 1764; “James Lake” marriage license, Essex Church of England Parish Registers, Essex Record Office, Chelmsford, digitized on Ancestrylibrary.com. For John Crowther and the Bow porcelain factory, see William Chaffers, Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porcelain, of the Renaissance and Modern Periods; with Historical Notices of Each Manufactory (London: J. Davy and Sons, 1870), 690. The Lakes had an impressive thirteen children together: Mary Wigston (b. 1765), Jesse, Edward (d. 1810), Charlotte Townsend (b. 1770), James Samuel William (1771–1832), Samuel, William, Willoughby-Thomas, Atwill, Susanna, Anne Curtois, Andrew, and Henry.

6. The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), the largest and oldest corporation in Canada, began as a fur trading business. Lake served as a member from 1762 to 1782, deputy governor from 1782 to 1799, and governor from 1799 to 1807. As governor, Lake oversaw a district of the company and shared in profits and losses. “Lake, James Winter,” biographical sheet, Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Archives of Manitoba, https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/_docs/hbca/biographical/l/lake_james-winter.pdf. See also A Catalogue of the Genuine and Extraordinary Collection of British Portraits and Historic Prints . . . By the late Sir James Winter Lake, Baronet, Mr. Stewart auction, London, April 25–30, May 2–7, 1808.

7. The quote continues, “To clever people of every description she was kind, and benevolent to the poor.” John Thomas Smith, A Book for a Rainy Day: Or, Recollections of the Events of the Last Sixty-Six Years (London: Richard Bentley, 1845), 118. Smith was a fellow antiquarian and close friend of James Winter Lake. He dedicated his book, Antiquities of London and Environs (London: J. Sewell, 1791), to Lake.

8. Richard Cosway, Lady Lake Joyce (?), ca. 1785, gouache on ivory, 3 1/16 x 2 1/5 in. (7.8 x 6.3 cm), Lázaro Galdiano Museum, 03812, https://ceres.mcu.es/pages/ResultSearch?txtSimpleSearch=Lady Lake Joyce (?)&simpleSearch=0&hipertextSearch=1&search=simpleSelection&MuseumsSearch=&MuseumsRolSearch=1&listaMuseos=null; Francis Coates, Joyce Crowther, Lady Lake (1744–1834) as Diana, oil on canvas, 49 1/2 x 39 1/2 in. (125.7 x 100.3 cm), Sloane Street Auctions, September 28, 2023, lot 131, https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/francis-coates-ra-1726-1770-joyce-crowther-lady-l-131-c-74449a7aa5; Studio of Charles Robertson, A Lady, Called Joyce, Lady Lake, gold frame, 2 9/16 in. (6.5 cm) high, sold at Bonhams’, London, “Portrait Miniatures and Silhouettes,” September 2, 2008, lot 109, https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/16198/lot/109/.

9. Cosway’s portrait of Lady Lake is of poor quality, and it is difficult to determine the eye color.

10. She died on July 25, 1834, at Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. Sylvanus Urban, “Obituary,” The Gentleman’s Magazine 156 (July–December 1834): 447; Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Portrait Miniatures on Loan at the South Kensington Museum (London: Whittingham and Wilkins, June 1865), 111.

Charles Wheeley Lea (1827–1898), Hallow, Worcestershire, England, by 1865 [1];

With the Duveen Brothers, London, by 1904 [2];

Unknown woman, by 1937;

Purchased from the unknown woman’s sale, Sketches and Studies for Miniature Portraits by John Smart, Christie’s, London, November 26, 1937, lot 99, as Joyce, Lady Lake, by Cartwright, 1937 [3];

Unknown woman, by 1949;

Purchased from the unknown woman’s sale, Fine Sicilian Jewellery, Objects of Vertu, Fine Portrait Miniatures, Sotheby’s, London, October 27, 1949, lot 141, as Lady Lake, by Leggatt Brothers, London, probably on behalf of Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, 1949–1958 [4];

Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1958.

Notes

[1] Charles’s wife, Amy Mary Lea (née Jacomb, 1834–1916), may have inherited the miniature after his death in 1898, but it is uncertain if it passed directly from Mr. or Mrs. Lea to the Duveen Brothers.

[2] An annotated card accompanying the miniature in Duveen’s stock album is inscribed, “1953 / CTT / Joyce, Lady Lake / daughter of John / Crowther, & wife of / Sir James Winter Lake / 4^th Baronet / Exhib^td Loan Exbⁿ / S. Kensington 1865. / By. R. Cosway 1742–1821.” See “Decorative Arts: Miniatures,” Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Duveen Brothers records, 1876-1981 (bulk 1909-1964), Series VII, boxes 554–56, Series VII.D. Decorative arts, 1898-circa 1960, images 42–43. The miniature was illustrated in George C. Williamson, The History of Portrait Miniatures, vol. 1 (London: George Bell and Sons, 1904), facing p. 122, and mentioned on p. 124 as being in Duveen’s collection.

[3] According to the catalogue, lots 84–112 was “the Property of a Lady.” The miniature is described in the catalogue as “Portrait of Joyce, Lady Lake, nearly profile to the left, in white décolleté dress—circular diamond frame. Exhibited at South Kensington, 1865. No. 1248. From the Collection of Mr. Lea.” According to Art Prices Current (1937–1938), Cartwright bought lot 99 for 16 pounds. “Cartwright” may have been a portrait miniature dealer, but it remains uncertain. An Olga and Nina Cartwright Dickson were painted in miniature by Alice Mott in London in 1894 and 1896, more than forty years before this sale.

[4] According to the catalogue, lots 138–144 was “the Property of a Lady.” The miniature is described in the catalogue as “A Miniature of Lady Lake, by Cosway, head and shoulders three-quarters sinister, gaze directed at spectator, fair hair adorned with pearls, in low-cut white dress, faded cloud and sky background, round oval, 2 1/2 in.; in diamond-bordered frame. See Illustration.” The sales catalogue is located at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Miller Nichols Library and is likely annotated by Mr. or Mrs. Starr with a circled lot number, a checkmark, “Leggatt,” and “92.” Leggatt Brothers bought lot 141 for 92 pounds. Archival research has shown that Leggatt Brothers served as purchasing agents for the Starrs. See correspondence between Betty Hogg and Martha Jane Starr, May 15 and June 3, 1950, Nelson-Atkins curatorial files.

Special Exhibition of Portrait Miniatures, South Kensington Museum, London, June 1865, no. 1248, as by R. Cosway, Joyce Lady Lake.

The Starr Foundation Collection of Miniatures, The Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, December 8, 1972–January 14, 1973, no cat., no. 169, as Joyce, Lady Lake.

Cataloge of the Special Exhibition of Portrait Miniatures on Loan at the South Kensington Museum, exh. cat. (London: Whittingham and Wilkins, 1865), 111, as by R. Cosway, Joyce Lady Lake.

George C. Williamson, The History of Portrait Miniatures (London: George Bell and Sons, 1904), 1:124, pl. LVIIIB, fig. 5, (repro.), as Joyce, Lady Lake, Daughter of John Crowther, Esq., Wife of Sir Thomas Winter Lake.

Sketches and Studies for Miniature Portraits by John Smart (London: Christie’s, November 26, 1937), lot 99, as Joyce, Lady Lake.

Catalogue of Fine Sicilian Jewellery, Objects of Vertu, Fine Portrait Miniatures (London: Sotheby’s, October 27, 1949), lot 141, as by Cosway, Lady Lake.

Ross E. Taggart, The Starr Collection of Miniatures in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, 1971), no. 169, p. 58 (repro.), as Joyce, Lady Lake.