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Miss Kennedy: P.15109-R

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Miss Kennedy
[?Polly] Kennedy

Maker(s)

Printmaker: Watson, Thomas
Publisher: Parker, Henry
Publisher: Hooper, S.
Publisher: Shropshire, Walter
Publisher: Watson, Thomas
Painter: Reynolds, Joshua (After)

Entities

Categories

Description

After the portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds (Painted mainly in 1770; Private Collection; Mannings, 1033). The identity of the sitter is uncertain, although she is generally thought to have been a courtesan, the portrait by Reynolds having been commissioned by Sir Charles Bunbury, one of her admirers. Chaloner Smith asserts the name 'Polly Kennedy' only in parentheses and Goodwin hesitantly indicates Polly Kennedy adding, '(or Jones)'. Mannings cites from Reynolds's Pocket Book, in which he refers to her merely as 'Miss Kennedy' and speculates that, 'she may have been Polly Kennedy (? lived in Great Russell Street; died 1781), 'of an Irish family', as Tom Taylor suggested'. Seated, three-quarter-length to the front, head in three-quarter profile towards the right, left leg towards the right also. Her right arm raised, holding a cloth in her hand, her left arm extended along her left knee. She wears a pale gown with a repeat pattern of flower sprigs with an oriental scarf tied around her waist and a lavish, brocade coat, trimmed with ermine. Jewellery of long, pearl and stone necklace, large pearl, dropper earrings and a tiara-style headdress.

Legal notes

Bequeathed by Charles Brinsley Marlay, 1912

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1912) by Marlay, Charles Brinsley

Dating

18th Century#
Production date: 1771-09-01 AD 1771

Note

Mezzotint. After artists' names were erased and re-engraved as larger letters to fill the inscription space. In large, sloping letters towards the left: 'Sir Joshua Reynolds Pinx.t' and towards the right: 'T. Watson fecit.'. Publication details in smaller sloping letters below: 'published as the Act directs 1.st Sept. 1771. for H parker No. 82, Cornhill; S. Hooper No.25, Ludagte [sic] Hill; W. Shropshire, New Bond Street & T. Watson, in Broad Street.' Inscribed in graphite on the verso: 'CBM [Charles Brinsley Marlay]'; '47'; 'L [£]'.

School or Style

British

Techniques used in production

Mezzotint

Identification numbers

Accession number: P.15109-R
Primary reference Number: 240137
Goodwin (Watson): 10.II
Chaloner Smith: 22.II
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Thursday 9 January 2020 Updated: Wednesday 11 January 2023 Last processed: Thursday 7 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Miss Kennedy" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/240137 Accessed: 2024-11-25 00:55:32

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/240137 |title=Miss Kennedy |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-25 00:55:32|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-240137

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