Anne Seymour Damer (1748-1828), Sculptor

Author

Susan Benforado

Publication Date

1-26-1987

Abstract

The Honourable Anne Seymour Darner (1748-1828), aristocrat, classical scholar, novelist and actress, was also that anomalous being, an amateur woman sculptor. By her own admission, she considered sculpture the chief business of her life, and the pursuit of the "true style," now known by its nineteenth-century name of neoclassicism, its focus. She studied sculpture privately, first with Giuseppe Ceracchi and then with John Bacon the Elder, in whose studio she may have worked for a short time; William Cumberland Cruikshank taught her anatomy. Her wealth and connections --her maternal grandfather was the fourth Duke of Argyll, the third Duke of Richmond her brother-in-law, Horace Walpole her cousin, godfather, and mentor, and Sir William Hamilton, Sir Horace Mann, and Sir Joshua Reynolds family friends--enabled her to travel extensively and, for her art, profitably. She spent several winters in Italy, was a frequent visitor to France, Germany and the Low Countries, and journeyed alone across Spain and Portugal.

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Art History

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

UNM Department of Art and Art History

First Committee Member (Chair)

Peter Walch

Second Committee Member

Morris Emery Eaves

Third Committee Member

Howard Rodee

Recommended Citation

Benforado, Susan. "Anne Seymour Damer (1748-1828), Sculptor." (1987). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/arth_etds/72