• Title
  [Portrait of Margaret Charlott Phillip] / George James
• Creator
  George James, -1795
• Call number
  DG 235
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  
  approximately 1764
• Type of material
  Graphic Materials, Paintings
• Reference code
  899027
• Issue Copy
  Copy print : DG 235
  Available on open access in the Mitchell Library Reading Room
• Physical Description
  1 painting - 28 x 24 ½ in. inside mount - oil
  
• ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
  
  George James; active dates: fl. 1755-1795
  Portrait painter: born London, date unknown; died France 1795 (in prison).
  He was a pupil of Arthur Pond. He studied in Naples in 1755 and then in Rome until 1760; settled in London and exhibited first at the Free Society (1762-63), then at the Society of Artists (1764-69) and finally the Royal Academy (1770-79), to which he was elected A.R.A. in 1770. James moved to Bath in 1780, where he married a rich woman and largely gave up painting. He later went to live in Boulogne, where he was imprisoned 'under the sanguinary tyranny of Robespierre', and died there in 1795.
  Reference: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography : https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/14604
• Collection history
  This portrait along with DG 233 were in the possession of Sir William Dixson as early as 1916 Reference: Sydney Morning Herald, 28 December 1916. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15690418
• Access Conditions
  
  Access via appointment
• Copying Conditions
  Out of copyright:
  Please acknowledge:: Dixson Galleries, State Library of New South Wales
• Description source
  
  Title devised by cataloguer based on portrait painted by the same artist George James (DG 233).
• General note
  
  Previously titled: Portrait of Mrs Arthur Phillip
• Signatures / Inscriptions
  
  Presence of a remnant (and previously unrecorded) back of canvas signature which seems to correlate with the more distinct back of canvas signature on DG 233: 'George James / 1764'
• Attributions / conjectures
  
  This work is thought to be a portrait of Captain Arthur Phillip's first wife Margaret Charlott (Charlotte) Phillip (nee Denison) whom he married in July 1763.
  
  "It shows a dark-haired, blue-eyed woman rather more artistically than fashionably dressed, in timeless mid-18th century style, in a vaguely Italianate / 'Grand Tour' inspired setting, note the "classical" white building on the far RHS. The lack of a defined centre front opening in the gilt-braided bodice of the sitter's pale blue satin gown suggests a more artistic interpretation of dress over functionality, though surface cleaning of the painting might reveal the shadowy presence of a front lacing.
  The gilt and pearl diadem in the woman's hair, along with the bunches of grape-like pearls marking the shoulders of the length of pink textile arranged artistically over her gown, may possibly be vestiges of mourning.
  
  Visual comparison of the extant [but non-original] frames of these works and their measurements (DG 235: canvas 63.7 x 76.0cm and DG 233: sight : 28 3/4 x 24 1/2" : approx. 61.5 x 73.0 cm) would seem to suggest them to be a pair however, this does not of course tell us anything about their identities.
  
  Overall, the appearance of both paintings supports an attribution to them being a pair of marital portraits by George James and the date of 1764, as suggested by the artist's back of canvas signature and date on DG 233"
  
  Reference: Information provided by Curator, Margot Riley, Collection Acquisition & Curation, February 2024
• Date note
  
  Date estimated to be 1764 based on portrait Captain Arthur Phillip, R. N., 1764 / George James (DG 233).
• Subject
  Phillip, Margaret Charlotte, 1722-1792.
  Portraits.
  
• Open Rosetta viewer
  IE21118475

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