Property of a Gentleman Francis Coates RA (1726 - 1770) Joy...

Estimate

£20,000 - £30,000

Property of a Gentleman

Francis Coates RA (1726 - 1770)
Joyce Crowther, Lady Lake (1744 - 1834) as Diana
Oil on canvas
In a carved giltwood frame decorated with floral motifs
Gallery labels verso

Lot Essay:
Joyce Crowther was the daughter of John Crowther of Bow, owner of the Bow china factory; a fact wittily reference by the bow which she holds.

In 1764 aged 20 Joyce married Sir James Winter Lake, 3rd baronet (1741-1807) of The Firs, Edmonton.  She died on 25 July 1834, aged 90, at Boulogne-sur-Mer.

Sir James was the eldest son of Sir Atwell Lake and Mary Winter, the daughter of James Winter of Mile End. Sir James was admitted to Trinity College Cambridge, on 2 June 1760, where he studied classical languages. Cultured and with a fervent interest in the arts, he became a passionate collector, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. His collecting was was enabled by the great wealth derived from his succession of positions with the Hudson’s Bay Company, as a member of the Committee (1761-82), then as Deputy Governor (1782-99) and finally as Governor (1799-1807).

Sir James was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and developed a close friendship with the artist and antiquarian John Thomas Smith.  Smith, writing some years later, erroneously recorded the present painting as a work by Nathaniel Hone. In Nollekins and his Times he wrote, 'Crowther had a very beautiful daughter who is married to Sir James Lake. Nathaniel Hone painted a very beautiful portrait of her, in the character of Diana, and it was one of his best pictures.'

The outstanding portrait Smith recalled was in fact painted by Frances Cotes. Cotes had been apprenticed to George Knapton from about 1741 to 1747. His first recorded portrait in oils was in 1753. He exhibited at The Society of Artists from 1760 and was heavily influenced by Reynolds. As one of the most fashionable and sought after portrait painters in London, he became a founder member of The Royal Academy in 1768.

Provenance:
Commissioned by Sir James Winter Lake, upon whose death then painting passed to Lady Lake, the sitter, until her death in 1834;
Thence by descent in the Lake family until sold in 2018

Literature:
J. T. Smith, Nollekins and his Times and Memoirs of Contemporary Artists vol.1 page 161

Dimensions:
(Canvas) 49.5 in. (H) x 39.5 in. (W)
(Frame) 60 in. (H) x 50 in. (W)