Portrait of Sarah (Sally) Franklin Bache, 1793
The Metropolitan Museum of...
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998

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Hoppner's portrait represents Sally as a prosperous matron with ruddy face, curly gray hair, and a robust body. Her head, upper arms and chest, to the waist, are shown. She is positioned frontally, but her head is turned slightly toward the lower left corner of the canvas, and her eyes are cast downward demurely.

Sally is dressed well, but conservatively, in a gray dress of dotted cloth. Around her shoulder and crossed over her chest is a sheer fichu or neck scarf. Her curls escape from beneath a cap or scarf of sheer cloth with woven or embroidered ornamentation. There is a suggestion of what might be a fur wrap around her waist. The background of the painting is a deep, warm brown.

The portrait is accompanied by one of her husband, Richard, also by Hoppner, which is also in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

There is no visible signature or date on the work. It is framed behind glass.

Numerous copies of this portrait were made for family members by artists including two by Rembrandt Peale (private collection, and National Portrait Gallery), two by Thomas Sully (Philadelphia Museum of Art and State Department Diplomatic Reception Rooms) and Thomas Wilcocks Sully (Mead Art Museum, Amherst College).

Connection to Franklin
Portrait of Franklin's only daughter, painted after his death
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