Mrs. Papendiek and Her Son

Sir Thomas Lawrence British
 Sitter Charlotte Louisa Henrietta Papendiek (née Albert) British

Not on view

This delightful early Lawrence portrait drawing came to the Museum from trustee George Dupont Pratt. In 1789, the twenty-year-old artist was working at Windsor Castle on a full-length oil of Queen Charlotte when the opportunity arose to make this more informal image of the queen’s dresser, Charlotte Papiendiek. Deputized by the queen to model apparel represented in the oil, Mrs. Papiendiek wears a pearl bracelet centered on a miniature that George III gave to his wife at their wedding. It was Mrs. Papiendiek’s own fashionable hat, however, that caught Lawrence’s attention on this occasion—a beribboned confection adorned with lace that falls around her face. The inclusion of the sitter’s two-year-old son Frederick leaning against her knee increases the sense of intimacy.

Mrs. Papendiek and Her Son, Sir Thomas Lawrence (British, Bristol 1769–1830 London), Red and black chalk

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Mrs. Papendiek and Her Son, Sir Thomas Lawrence (British, Bristol 1769–1830 London), Red and black chalk
Mrs. Papendiek and Her Son, Sir Thomas Lawrence (British, Bristol 1769–1830 London), Red and black chalk

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