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Lot 213 VARIOUS PROPERTIES
JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY (1738-1815)
Samuel Barrett
Closed21 January 2011
Price Realised
USD 386,500
More Information
Specialist note
Dated to circa 1765-1770, the present lot is a rare and intimate example of John Singleton Copley's portraiture in miniature. Painted in oil on copper, it is one of only a small number of portraits executed in this medium in Boston before Copley immigrated to London in 1774.
The sitter, Samuel Barrett, was a prominent Boston lawyer and Copley's brother-in-law. Barrett graduated from Harvard University in 1757 and, after receiving a law degree from Yale in 1760, married Mary Clarke, the eldest daughter of a wealthy Boston merchant, in 1761. Copley wed Mary Clarke's sister, Susanna, in 1769. During his engagement, Copley executed this portrait miniature and an oil on copper miniature of Mary Clarke Barrett, presumably as a pair.
The sitter, Samuel Barrett, was a prominent Boston lawyer and Copley's brother-in-law. Barrett graduated from Harvard University in 1757 and, after receiving a law degree from Yale in 1760, married Mary Clarke, the eldest daughter of a wealthy Boston merchant, in 1761. Copley wed Mary Clarke's sister, Susanna, in 1769. During his engagement, Copley executed this portrait miniature and an oil on copper miniature of Mary Clarke Barrett, presumably as a pair.