John Richard Comyns of Hylands, Essex, with his daughters

Greenwood, John (1727-1792)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

1775

Height:

90.2 cm  (35 1/2 in.)

Width:

109.2 cm  (43 in.)

Technique / Medium:

oil on canvas

Description

Family portrait with a father and three daughters, one of whom is playing a two-manual harpsichord which has three hand stops and dark accidentals against white keys; the instrument also has two drawers visible beneath its treble end, possibly concealing the mechanism for the pedal(s?) barely suggested under the girl's right foot. The tragic absence of a mother is possibly suggested by numerous details including a woman's hat and shawl lying on the closed lid of the harpsichord, and a coat draped over a chair.

Iconclass

42B71
family life at home
48C7523
one person playing keyboard instrument
48C7332
clavichord, harpsichord
42B7412
father and daughter(s) (family group)

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Harpsichord [2251]

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Bibliographic references

Mitchell, Sebastian. "James Thomson's picture collection and British history painting", Journal of the History of Collections 23/1 (January 2011) 127-151.

RIdIM record id

6223