Lot 34: Circle of Cornelius Johnson (London 1593-1661 Utrecht)

Circle of Cornelius Johnson (London 1593-1661 Utrecht)
Portrait of a lady traditionally identified as Mary Cropper, bust-length, in a black dress with lace collar and cap
with inscription 'Mary Cropper Aetat. 36 1673' (to the reverse of the copper)
oil on copper, oval
4¼ x 3¾ in. (10.8 x 9.6 cm.)

By descent to Henry Smith Cropper, by 1881.

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
The present portrait stylistically appears to date to the 1640s, and therefore the insription on the reverse identifying the sitter as Mary Cropper in 1673 is likely to have been added later. The Croppers were Quaker farmers in the parish of Ormskirk, Lancashire, and the aforementioned Mary, daughter of Hamlet Cropper, was baptised on 30 July 1637. Given the present portrait descended directly within the Cropper family until the 19th Century, it is likely that the sitter was indeed a member of the Cropper family, though presumably of the generation before the Mary recorded in the inscription. It is possible that the sitter was in fact Mary, daughter of Ferdinando Cropper, baptised 9 October 1607, or Mary, daughter of Peter Cropper, baptised 9 June 1608, both at Ormskirk.