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{{Short description|British sculptor (1748–1828)}}
{{Other people|Anne Seymour}}
{{Other people|Anne Seymour}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
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{{short description|British artist}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name =
| name =
| image = Anne Seymour Damer self-portrait.JPG
| image = Anne Seymour Damer self-portrait.JPG
| alt =
| alt =
| caption = Self-portrait bust in the Uffizi gallery of artist self-portraits in the Vasari Corridor. The Greek text reads: ΑΝΝΑ ΣΕΙΜΟΡΙΣ ΔΑΜΕΡ Η ΕΚ ΤΗΣ ΒΡΕΤΤΑΝΙΚΗΣ ΑΥΤΗ ΑΥΤΗΝ ΕΠΟΙΕΙ which translates to "Anne Seymour Damer from Britain, made herself"
| caption = Anne Seymour Damer's self-portrait [[Bust (sculpture)|bust]] at the Vasari Corridor of the [[Uffizi gallery]]<br>The Greek inscription reads:<br>ΑΝΝΑ ΣΕΙΜΟΡΙΣ ΔΑΜΕΡ Η ΕΚ ΤΗΣ ΒΡΕΤΤΑΝΙΚΗΣ ΑΥΤΗ ΑΥΤΗΝ ΕΠΟΙΕΙ<br>("Anne Seymour Damer from Britain, made herself")
| birth_name =
| birth_name = Anne Seymour Conway
| birth_date = {{birth date|1748|11|8|df=y}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1748|10|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = Kent, United Kingdom
| birth_place = [[Sevenoaks]], [[Kent]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|1828|5|28|1748|11|8|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1828|5|28|1748|11|8|df=y}}
| death_place = Mayfair, London, United Kingdom
| death_place = [[Mayfair, London]], England
| resting_place = St Mary, Church Road, Sundridge, Kent, TN14 6DD
| resting_place = St Mary, Church Road, [[Sundridge, Kent]]
| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation =
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| education =
}}
}}


'''Anne Seymour Damer''', ''née'' Conway, (8 November 1748 – 28 May 1828) was an [[England|English]] sculptor.<ref>{{cite DNB|author=Stephen, Leslie|wstitle=Damer, Anne Seymour|volume=13|pages=450–451}}</ref> Once described as a 'female genius' by Horace Walpole, she was trained in sculpture by Giuseppe Ceracchi and John Bacon. She exhibited regularly at The Royal Academy from 1784 to 1818. She was a close friend to members of Georgian high society, including Horace Walpole and the Whig politician Charles James Fox. It is believed that Damer was a lesbian and was in a relationship with the actress [[Elizabeth Farren]].<ref name=":0" />
'''Anne Seymour Damer''' (née Conway; 26 October 1748 – 28 May 1828)<ref>''The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster Vol. IV. 1741-1760''. 30 November 1748.</ref> was an [[England|English]] [[sculptor]].<ref>{{cite DNB|author=Stephen, Leslie|wstitle=Damer, Anne Seymour|volume=13|pages=450–451}}</ref> Described as a 'female genius' by [[Horace Walpole]], she was trained in sculpture by [[Giuseppe Ceracchi]] and [[John Bacon (sculptor, born 1740)|John Bacon]]. Influenced by the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] movement, Damer was an author, traveller, theatrical producer and actress, as well as an acclaimed sculptor.<ref name=":0"/>

She exhibited regularly at the [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]] from 1784 to 1818 and was a close friend to members of [[Georgian era|Georgian]] high society, including Horace Walpole and the politician [[Charles James Fox]]. It is believed that Damer was a [[lesbian]] and was in a relationship with the actress [[Elizabeth Farren]].<ref name=":0"/>


==Life==
==Life==
Anne Conway was born in [[Sevenoaks]] into an [[aristocracy|aristocratic]] [[British Whig Party|Whig]] family. She was the only daughter of Field-Marshal [[Henry Seymour Conway]] (1721–1795) and his wife Caroline Bruce, born Campbell, Lady Ailesbury (1721–1803). Her father was a nephew of [[Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford|Robert Walpole]], Britain's first prime minister.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Webb|first=Richard|date=2014|title=Anne Seymour Damer – Sculpture & Society|url=|journal=The Strawberry Hill|volume=|pages=|via=}}</ref> Walpole's son, Horace Walpole was her godfather, and Anne spent much of her childhood in his home in Strawberry Hill.<ref name=":0" />
Anne Seymour Conway was born in [[Sevenoaks]] into an aristocratic [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] family. She was the only daughter of Field-Marshal [[Henry Seymour Conway]] (1721–1795) and his wife Caroline Bruce, born Campbell, Lady Ailesbury (1721–1803). Her father was a nephew of [[Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford|Robert Walpole]], Britain's first [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Webb|first=Richard|date=2014|title=Anne Seymour Damer – Sculpture & Society|journal=The Strawberry Hill}}</ref> Walpole's son, [[Horace Walpole]], was her godfather, and Anne spent much of her childhood in his home in Strawberry Hill.<ref name=":0"/> Her mother was the daughter of the [[John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll|Duke of Argyll]]. She was brought up at the family home at [[Park Place (Berkshire)|Park Place]] in [[Berkshire]]. She was highly educated and taught at home.<ref name=":0"/> By the time she was seventeen, she was introduced into society.


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In 1766 at the age of 17, Damer was sketched by [[Angelica Kauffman]] in the character of the goddess [[Ceres (mythology)|Ceres]], a work now held at [[St Mary's University, Twickenham]].<ref name=":0"/> In 1800, an unknown artist (possibly Kauffman) completed a painting with the same composition as the sketch. The painting preceded Damer's launch into Society and her entrance into the marriage market.<ref name=":0"/>
Her mother was the daughter of the Duke of Argyll. She was brought up at the family home at [[Park Place (Berkshire)|Park Place]], [[Remenham]], [[Berkshire]]. She was highly educated and taught at home.<ref name=":0" /> By the time she was seventeen, she was introduced into society.


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In 1767 she married [[John Damer]], the son of Lord Milton, later the [[Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester|1st Earl of Dorchester]]. The couple received an income of £5,000 from Lord Milton, and were left large fortunes by Milton and Henry Conway.<ref name="leednb">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Conway, Henry Seymour|volume=12}}</ref> Damer was described as a poor businessman, who had a taste for expensive clothing. The marriage was not a successful one. The couple had no children and separated after seven years.
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In 1766 at the age of 17, she was sketched by [[Angelica Kauffman|Angelica Kaufmann]] in the character of the goddess Ceres. The work which can be found in St Mary's University Twickenham.<ref name=":0" /> In 1800, an unknown artist (possibly Kauffman) completed a painting with the same composition as the sketch. The painting preceded her launch into Society and her entrance onto the marriage market.<ref name=":0" />


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In 1775, Anne was included in a painting titled ''The Three Witches from Macbeth'' by [[Daniel Gardner]] ({{c.}} 1750 – 1805), which can be found in the [[National Portrait Gallery, London]]. The work shows her next to other ladies of high society: [[Elizabeth Lamb, Viscountess Melbourne]] and [[Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire]].<ref name=":0"/>
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In 1767 she married [[John Damer]], the son of Lord Milton, later the [[Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester|1st Earl of Dorchester]]. The couple received an income of £5,000 from Lord Milton, and were left large fortunes by Milton and Henry Conway.<ref name="leednb">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Conway, Henry Seymour|volume=12}}</ref> Damer was described as a poor businessman, who had a taste for expensive clothing. The marriage was not a successful one. The couple had no children and separated after seven years.
[[File:The Three Witches from Shakespeares Macbeth by Daniel Gardner, 1775.jpg|right|thumb|Anne Damer with the [[Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire|Duchess of Devonshire]] and [[Lady Melbourne]] in ''Witches Round the Cauldron'' by [[Daniel Gardner]] (1775)]]
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Damer's husband died by suicide in 1776, leaving considerable debts. As a widow, Damer benefitted from a prenuptial agreement whereby her father-in-law was obliged to pay her £2500 a year. This money allowed her to be financially independent, and continue her artistic career, whilst maintaining a full social life, on a more intellectual plane than that of her earlier married years.<ref name=":0"/>


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Damer was a frequent visitor to Europe. In 1779, she had watched from the deck, a four-hour running gunfight between a French [[privateer]] and the cross-Channel [[packet boat]] on which she was travelling.<ref name=":0"/> During one voyage she was captured by a privateer, but released unharmed in [[Jersey]]. In 1790–91, she travelled alone through Portugal and Spain and back through [[revolutionary France]]. She visited Sir [[Sir Horatio Mann, 2nd Baronet|Horace Mann]] in [[Florence]], and Sir [[William Hamilton (diplomat)|William Hamilton]] in [[Naples]], where she was introduced to [[Lord Nelson]].
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In 1775, Anne was included in a painting titled ''The Three Witches form Macbeth'' by Daniel Gardner (c.1750–1805), which can be found in The National Portrait Gallery, London. The work shows her next to other ladies of high society: Elizabeth Lamb, Viscountess Melbourne and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.<ref name=":0" />


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In 1801, she published a novel, ''[[Belmour]]'', a book she had written in [[Lisbon]]. It ran to three editions and was translated into French.<ref name=":0"/><ref>{{cite book |title=Belmour: a novel, Volume 1
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Anne's husband committed suicide in 1776, leaving considerable debts. As a widow, Anne benefitted from a prenuptial agreement whereby her father-in-law was obliged to pay her £2500 a year. This money allowed her to be financially independent, and continue her artistic career.<ref name=":0" /> Whilst immersing herself in sculpture, she still found time for a full social life, on a more intellectual plane than that of her earlier married years.<ref name=":0" />
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|last=Damer|first=Anne Seymour|year=1827|publisher=H. Colburn|location=London|pages=335|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=stcsAAAAYAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Belmour: a novel, Volume 2
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|last=Damer|first=Anne Seymour|year=1827|publisher=H. Colburn|location=London|pages=349|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ftcsAAAAYAAJ}}</ref> In 1802, while the [[Treaty of Amiens]] was in effect, she visited Paris with the author [[Mary Berry (writer, born 1763)|Mary Berry]] and was granted an audience with [[Napoleon]].


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A fluent French speaker, Damer became friends with [[Josephine Buonaparte]]. They corresponded about gardening and plants, mostly in connection to Josephine's garden at Malmaison. Anne had also discussed this with Sir [[Joseph Banks]], one of the founders of the [[Royal Horticultural Society]]. A sculptural bust she made of Banks can be found in the [[British Museum]]. In 1815, she travelled to [[Elba]], the island where Napoleon had been exiled. She travelled there despite the ongoing war between France and Britain. The Emperor gifted her a [[snuff box]] featuring his portrait, which is housed in the British Museum.<ref name=":0"/>
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Anne was a frequent visitor to Europe. In 1779, she had watched from the deck, a four hour running gunfight between a French privateer and the cross Channel packet boat on which she was travelling.<ref name=":0" /> During one voyage she was captured by a [[privateer]], but released unharmed in [[Jersey]]. In 1790–91, she travelled alone through Portugal and Spain and back through revolutionary France. She visited [[Sir Horatio Mann, 2nd Baronet|Sir Horace Mann]] in [[Florence]], and [[William Hamilton (diplomat)|Sir William Hamilton]] in [[Naples]], where she was introduced to [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Lord Nelson]].


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When Horace Walpole died in 1797, he left a life interest in Strawberry Hill to Damer. She had the job of recording the contents of Strawberry Hill for the Berry family, who had moved into an adjoining property. Anne used Strawberry Hill as her country house until 1811, which she maintained alongside her central London home in Upper [[Brook Street]]. In 1818, she returned to Twickenham, buying [[York House, Twickenham|York House]].
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In 1801, she published a novel, ''Belmour'', a book she had written in Lisbon. It ran in three editions and was translated into French.<ref name=":0" />


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From 1818, Anne Damer lived at [[York House, Twickenham]]. She continued to sculpt until the end of her life. She died, aged 79, in 1828 at her London house, 27 Upper Brook Street, [[Grosvenor Square]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wheatley |first1=Henry Benjamin |title=London, Past and Present |date=1881 |publisher=Murray |location=London |page=283 |authorlink=Henry B. Wheatley}}</ref> She was buried in the church at [[Sundridge, Kent]].
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In 1802, while the [[Treaty of Amiens]] was in effect, she visited [[Paris]] with the author [[Mary Berry (writer, born 1763)|Mary Berry]] and was granted an audience with [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]].


⚫
According to Richard Webb, she directed in her will that her correspondence be destroyed and that she be buried with the bones of her dog and her sculpting tools.<ref name=":0"/>
⚫
A fluent French speaker, Anne became friends with Josephine Buonaparte. They corresponded about gardening and plants, mostly in connection to Josephine's garden at Malmaison. Anne had also discussed this with Sir Joseph Banks, one of the founders of the Royal Horticultural Society. A sculptural bust she made of Banks can be found in The British Museum.

⚫
From 1818, Anne Damer lived at [[York House, Twickenham]]. She died, aged 79, in 1828 at her London house, No. 27 Upper [[Brook Street]], Grosvenor Square.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wheatley|first1=Henry Benjamin|title=London, Past and Present|date=1881|publisher=Murray|location=London|page=283}}</ref> She was buried in the church at [[Sundridge, Kent]], along with her sculptor's tools and apron and the ashes of her favourite dog.

⚫
When Horace Walpole died in 1797, he left a life interest in Strawberry Hill to Anne. She had the job of recording the contents of Strawberry Hill for the Berry family, who had moved into an adjoining property. Anne used Strawberry Hill as her country house until 1811, which she maintained alongside her central London home in Upper Brook Street. In 1818, she returned to Twickenham, buying York House.

Anne continued to sculpt until the end of her life. She died at the age of 80 in 1828.

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According to Richard Webb, she directed in her will that her correspondence by destroyed and that she be buried with the bones of her dog and her sculpting tools.<ref name=":0" />


==Works==
==Works==
The development of Anne Seymour Damer's interest in sculpture is credited to [[David Hume]] (who served as Under-Secretary when her father was [[Secretary of State for the Northern Department|Secretary of State]], 1766–1768) and to the encouragement of [[Horace Walpole]], who was her guardian during her parents' frequent trips abroad. According to Walpole, her training included lessons in modelling from [[Giuseppe Ceracchi]], in [[marble]] carving from [[John Bacon (sculptor, born 1740)|John Bacon]], and in [[anatomy]] from [[William Cumberland Cruikshank]].
The development of Anne Seymour Damer's interest in sculpture is credited to [[David Hume]] (who served as Under-Secretary when her father was [[Secretary of State for the Northern Department|Secretary of State]], 1766–1768) and to the encouragement of [[Horace Walpole]], who was her guardian during her parents' frequent trips abroad. According to Walpole, her training included lessons in modelling from [[Giuseppe Ceracchi]], in marble carving from [[John Bacon (sculptor, born 1740)|John Bacon]], and in anatomy from [[William Cumberland Cruikshank]].

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During the period 1784–1818, Damer exhibited 32 works as an honorary exhibitor at the [[Royal Academy]]. Her work, primarily [[Bust (sculpture)|bust]]s in [[Sculpture#Neo-Classical|Neoclassical]] style, developed from early [[wax]] sculptures to technically complex ones in works in [[terracotta]], [[bronze]], and marble. Her subjects, largely drawn from friends and colleagues in Whig circles, included [[Elizabeth Lamb, Viscountess Melbourne|Lady Melbourne]], [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Nelson]], [[Joseph Banks]], [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]], [[Mary Berry (writer, born 1763)|Mary Berry]], [[Charles James Fox]] and herself. She executed several actors' portraits, such as the busts of her friends [[Sarah Siddons]] and [[Elizabeth Farren]] (as the [[Muse]]s ''[[Melpomene]]'' and ''[[Thalia (muse)|Thalia]]'').


⚫
During the period 1784–1818, Damer exhibited 32 works as an honorary exhibitor at the [[Royal Academy]]. Her work, primarily [[Bust (sculpture)|bust]]s in [[Sculpture#Neo-Classical|Neoclassical]] style, developed from early wax sculptures to technically complex ones in works in [[terracotta]], bronze and marble. Her subjects, largely drawn from friends and colleagues in Whig circles, included [[Lady Melbourne]], [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Nelson]], [[Joseph Banks]], [[George III]], [[Mary Berry (writer, born 1763)|Mary Berry]], [[Charles James Fox]] and herself. She executed several actors' portraits, such as the busts of her friends [[Sarah Siddons]] and [[Elizabeth Farren]] (as the [[Muses]] ''[[Melpomene]]'' and ''[[Thalia (Muse)|Thalia]]'').
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She produced keystone sculptures of [[Isis]] and [[Tamesis]] for each side of the central arch on the [[Henley Bridge|bridge]] at [[Henley-on-Thames]].<ref>{{cite book| last =Walpole| first =Horace|title =The letters of Horace Walpole, fourth earl of Orford, Volume 8|editor =Peter Cunningham| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=3Ic1AAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s| year = 1891|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3Ic1AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA550&output=embed 550–551]| publisher = R. Bentley| place = London}}</ref> The original models are in the Henley Gallery of the [[River and Rowing Museum]] nearby. Another major architectural work was her 10-foot statue of [[Apollo]], now destroyed, for the frontage of [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|Drury Lane]] theatre. She also created two ''bas reliefs'' for the [[Boydell Shakespeare Gallery]] of scenes from ''[[Coriolanus (play)|Coriolanus]]'' and ''[[Antony and Cleopatra]]''.


⚫
She produced keystone sculptures of [[Isis]] and [[Tamesis]] for each side of the central arch on the [[Henley Bridge|bridge]] at [[Henley-on-Thames]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Walpole| first=Horace|title=The letters of Horace Walpole, fourth earl of Orford, Volume 8| editor=Peter Cunningham| url=https://archive.org/details/lettershoracewa24walpgoog| year= 1891|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lettershoracewa24walpgoog/page/n595 550]–551| publisher= R. Bentley| place= London}}</ref> The original models are in the Henley Gallery of the [[River and Rowing Museum]] nearby. Another major architectural work was her 10-foot statue of [[Apollo]], now destroyed, for the frontage of [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|Drury Lane]] theatre. She also created two [[bas-relief]]s for the [[Boydell Shakespeare Gallery]] of scenes from ''[[Coriolanus]]'' and ''[[Antony and Cleopatra]]''.
Damer was also a writer, with one published novel, ''[[Belmour]]'' (first published on 1801).<ref>{{cite book |title=Belmour: a novel, Volume 1
⚫
|last=Damer|first=Anne Seymour|authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1827|publisher=H. Colburn|location=London|isbn= |page= |pages=335|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=stcsAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Belmour&hl=en&ei=d2PSTKH6IdG6jAeU3fj5DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Belmour: a novel, Volume 2
|last=Damer|first=Anne Seymour|authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1827|publisher=H. Colburn|location=London|isbn= |page= |pages=349|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ftcsAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Lady+Anne+Seymour+Conway+Damer%22&hl=en&ei=Y3LUTOu2OMG1hAej7LSEBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=}}</ref>


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
<gallery>
<gallery>
File:Sir Joseph Banks by Anne Seymour Damer.jpg | Sir Joseph Banks by Anne Seymour Damer
File:Sir Joseph Banks by Anne Seymour Damer.jpg|Sir Joseph Banks by Anne Seymour Damer
File:Anne seymour damer coriolanus.JPG | [[Engraving]] of ''Coriolanus'' (c. 1789) one of two ''bas reliefs'' created by Damer for the [[Boydell Shakespeare Gallery]]
File:Anne seymour damer coriolanus.JPG|[[Engraving]] of ''Coriolanus'' (c. 1789), one of two bas-reliefs created by Damer for the [[Boydell Shakespeare Gallery]]
File:Thames by Anne Seymour Damer.JPG | centre|Sculpture of [[Tamesis]]. Downstream [[keystone (architecture)|keystone]] of the central arch of [[Henley Bridge]]
File:Thames by Anne Seymour Damer.JPG|Sculpture of [[Tamesis]]. Downstream [[keystone (architecture)|keystone]] of the central arch of [[Henley Bridge]]
File:Anne Seymour Damer (The Damerian Apollo) 1798.jpg | "The Damerian Apollo". 1798 caricature of Anne Seymour Damer chiseling the posterior of a large Apollo.
File:Anne Seymour Damer (The Damerian Apollo) 1798.jpg|"The Damerian Apollo". 1798 caricature of Anne Seymour Damer chiselling the posterior of a large Apollo
File:Anne Seymour Damer, by Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792).jpg | Anne Seymour Damer, by [[Joshua Reynolds]] (1723–1792)
File:Anne Seymour Damer, by Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792).jpg|Anne Seymour Damer, by [[Joshua Reynolds]] (1723–1792)
File:Anne Seymour Damer.jpg | Statue of Anne Seymour Damer, by [[Giuseppe Ceracchi]]
File:Anne Seymour Damer.jpg|Statue of Anne Seymour Damer, by [[Giuseppe Ceracchi]]
</gallery>
</gallery>


== Personal life ==
== Personal life ==
Damer's friends included a number of influential Whigs and aristocrats. Her guardian and friend [[Horace Walpole]] was a significant figure, who helped foster her career and on his death left her his London villa, [[Strawberry Hill House|Strawberry Hill]]. She also moved in literary and theatrical circles, where her friends included the poet and dramatist [[Joanna Baillie]], the author [[Mary Berry (writer, born 1763)|Mary Berry]], and the actors [[Sarah Siddons]] and [[Elizabeth Farren]]. She frequently took part in [[masque]]s at the [[Pantheon, London|Pantheon]] and amateur theatricals at the London residence of the [[Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond|Duke of Richmond]], who was married to her half-sister.<ref>''The Letters of Horace Walpole: Earl of Orford'', Horace Walpole, H.G. Bohn, 1861. [https://books.google.com/books?id=3Ic1AAAAMAAJ Google Books]</ref>
Damer's friends included a number of influential Whigs and aristocrats. Her guardian and friend Horace Walpole was a significant figure, who helped foster her career and on his death left her his London villa, [[Strawberry Hill House|Strawberry Hill]]. She also moved in literary and theatrical circles, where her friends included the poet and dramatist [[Joanna Baillie]], the author [[Mary Berry (writer, born 1763)|Mary Berry]], and the actors [[Sarah Siddons]] and [[Elizabeth Farren]]. She frequently took part in [[masque]]s at the [[Pantheon, London|Pantheon]] and amateur theatricals at the London residence of the [[Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond|Duke of Richmond]], who was married to her half-sister.<ref>''The Letters of Horace Walpole: Earl of Orford'', Horace Walpole, H.G. Bohn, 1861. [https://archive.org/details/lettershoracewa24walpgoog Internet Archive]</ref>


A number of sources have named Damer as being involved in [[lesbian]] relationships, particularly relating to her close friendship with Mary Berry, to whom she had been introduced by Walpole in 1789, and with whom she lived together in her later years. Even during her marriage, her likings for male clothing and demonstrative friendships with other women were publicly noted and satirised by hostile commentators such as [[Hester Thrale]]<ref>''The Lesbian History Sourcebook: Love and Sex Between Women in Britain from 1780 to 1970'', Alison Oram, Annmarie Turnbull, Routledge, 2001, {{ISBN|0-415-11484-5}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=KeWpYgdFWvgC&pg=PA58&ots=XmAtC4Zpqy&dq=Damer+lesbian&sig=6ruU3k6jbKK2gu1FQdoeWetzTJw Google Books]</ref> and in the anonymous pamphlet ''A Sapphick Epistle from Jack Cavendish to the Honourable and most Beautiful, Mrs D—'' (c.1770).<ref name="odnb">{{cite web |first=Alison |last=Yarrington |title=Damer, Anne Seymour (1748–1828) |work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/7084 |accessdate=2007-08-16}}</ref><ref name="sapphick">Rictor Norton (Ed.), "A Sapphick Epistle, 1778", Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook. 1 December 1999, updated 23 February 2003 <{{cite web|url=http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/sapphick.htm |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2007-08-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613220104/http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/sapphick.htm |archivedate=2007-06-13 }}> Retrieved on 2007-08-16</ref>
A number of sources have named Damer as being involved in [[lesbian]] relationships, particularly relating to her close friendship with Mary Berry, to whom she had been introduced by Walpole in 1789, and with whom she lived together in her later years. Even during her marriage, her likings for male clothing and demonstrative friendships with other women were publicly noted and satirised by hostile commentators such as [[Hester Thrale]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Oram|first1=Alison|last2=Turnbull|first2=Annmarie|title=The Lesbian History Sourcebook: Love and Sex Between Women in Britain from 1780 to 1970|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KeWpYgdFWvgC&pg=PA58|year=2001|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-11484-4|page=58}}</ref> and in the anonymous pamphlet ''A Sapphick Epistle from Jack Cavendish to the Honourable and most Beautiful, Mrs D—'' (c. 1770).<ref name="odnb">{{cite ODNB |first=Alison |last=Yarrington |title=Damer, Anne Seymour (1748–1828) |year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/7084 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/7084 |accessdate=16 August 2007}}</ref><ref name="sapphick">Rictor Norton (Ed.), "A Sapphick Epistle, 1778", Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook. 1 December 1999, updated 23 February 2003 <{{cite web|url=http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/sapphick.htm |title=Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England |accessdate=16 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613220104/http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/sapphick.htm |archivedate=13 June 2007 }}> Retrieved on 16 August 2007</ref>


A romance between Damer and [[Elizabeth Farren]], who was mentioned by Thrale, is the central storyline in the 2004 novel ''Life Mask'' by [[Emma Donoghue]].<ref name="interview">{{cite web |title=Interview with Emma Donoghue, Life Mask |url=http://www.harcourtbooks.com/AuthorInterviews/bookinterview_Donoghue.asp |work=Harcourt Trade Publishers |accessdate=2007-08-16 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927203058/http://www.harcourtbooks.com/AuthorInterviews/bookinterview_Donoghue.asp |archivedate=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
A romance between Damer and [[Elizabeth Farren]], who was mentioned by Thrale, is the central storyline in the 2004 novel ''Life Mask'' by [[Emma Donoghue]].<ref name="interview">{{cite web |title=Interview with Emma Donoghue, Life Mask |url=http://www.harcourtbooks.com/AuthorInterviews/bookinterview_Donoghue.asp |work=Harcourt Trade Publishers |accessdate=16 August 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927203058/http://www.harcourtbooks.com/AuthorInterviews/bookinterview_Donoghue.asp |archivedate=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==
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{{commons category|Anne Seymour Damer}}
{{commons category|Anne Seymour Damer}}
* [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/damer_anne_seymour.html Artcyclopedia information] including links to artworks
* [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/damer_anne_seymour.html Artcyclopedia information] including links to artworks
* {{NPG name|id=01175}}
* [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?linkID=mp01175 Artworks] in the [[National Portrait Gallery (London)|National Portrait Gallery]], [[London]]
* [https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp01175/anne-seymour-damer-nee-conway?role=art Portraits by Anne Seymour Damer] at the [[National Portrait Gallery, London]]
* [http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961&artistid=2553&page=1 Artwork] in [[Tate]], [[London]]
* [http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961&artistid=2553&page=1 Artwork] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205021836/http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961&artistid=2553&page=1 |date=5 February 2012 }} in [[Tate]], [[London]]
* [https://archive.is/20130209162958/http://wwar.com/masters/d/damer-anne_seymour.html WWAR information]
* [https://archive.today/20130209162958/http://wwar.com/masters/d/damer-anne_seymour.html WWAR information]
* [http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk/search/results.html?_creators=ULANWITT%2F9337&display=Damer%2C+Anne+Seymour A&A art and architecture images] including a [http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk/images/conway/627a270d.html marble sculpture self portrait] from the [[Courtauld Institute of Art]]
* [http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk/search/results.html?_creators=ULANWITT%2F9337&display=Damer%2C+Anne+Seymour A&A art and architecture images] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204060259/http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk/search/results.html?_creators=ULANWITT%2F9337&display=Damer,+Anne+Seymour |date=4 February 2012 }} including a [http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk/images/conway/627a270d.html marble sculpture self portrait] from the [[Courtauld Institute of Art]]
* [http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=372 The Twickenham Museum]
* [http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=372 The Twickenham Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515232835/http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=372 |date=15 May 2012 }}
*Anne Damer- socialite to sculptress '''(https://web.archive.org/web/20130516153805/http://mrsdamer.com/)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130516153805/http://mrsdamer.com/ Finding facts about Anne Damer 1748-1828] on MrsDamer.com


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:18th-century English women artists]]
[[Category:19th-century English women artists]]
[[Category:18th-century English LGBT people]]
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[[Category:Dawson-Damer family]]
[[Category:English women sculptors]]
[[Category:English women sculptors]]
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[[Category:18th-century LGBT people]]
[[Category:People from Remenham]]
[[Category:People from Remenham]]
[[Category:LGBT artists from the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:People from Sevenoaks]]
[[Category:18th-century British sculptors]]
[[Category:English LGBT sculptors]]
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Latest revision as of 16:18, 2 March 2024

For other people named Anne Seymour, see Anne Seymour (disambiguation).

Anne Seymour Damer
Anne Seymour Damer's self-portrait bust at the Vasari Corridor of the Uffizi gallery
The Greek inscription reads:
ΑΝΝΑ ΣΕΙΜΟΡΙΣ ΔΑΜΕΡ Η ΕΚ ΤΗΣ ΒΡΕΤΤΑΝΙΚΗΣ ΑΥΤΗ ΑΥΤΗΝ ΕΠΟΙΕΙ
("Anne Seymour Damer from Britain, made herself")
Born
Anne Seymour Conway

(1748-10-26)26 October 1748
Sevenoaks, Kent, England
Died28 May 1828(1828-05-28) (aged 79)
Mayfair, London, England
Resting placeSt Mary, Church Road, Sundridge, Kent

Anne Seymour Damer (née Conway; 26 October 1748 – 28 May 1828)[1] was an English sculptor.[2] Described as a 'female genius' by Horace Walpole, she was trained in sculpture by Giuseppe Ceracchi and John Bacon. Influenced by the Enlightenment movement, Damer was an author, traveller, theatrical producer and actress, as well as an acclaimed sculptor.[3]

She exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy from 1784 to 1818 and was a close friend to members of Georgian high society, including Horace Walpole and the politician Charles James Fox. It is believed that Damer was a lesbian and was in a relationship with the actress Elizabeth Farren.[3]

Life[edit]

Anne Seymour Conway was born in Sevenoaks into an aristocratic Whig family. She was the only daughter of Field-Marshal Henry Seymour Conway (1721–1795) and his wife Caroline Bruce, born Campbell, Lady Ailesbury (1721–1803). Her father was a nephew of Robert Walpole, Britain's first prime minister.[3] Walpole's son, Horace Walpole, was her godfather, and Anne spent much of her childhood in his home in Strawberry Hill.[3] Her mother was the daughter of the Duke of Argyll. She was brought up at the family home at Park Place in Berkshire. She was highly educated and taught at home.[3] By the time she was seventeen, she was introduced into society.

In 1766 at the age of 17, Damer was sketched by Angelica Kauffman in the character of the goddess Ceres, a work now held at St Mary's University, Twickenham.[3] In 1800, an unknown artist (possibly Kauffman) completed a painting with the same composition as the sketch. The painting preceded Damer's launch into Society and her entrance into the marriage market.[3]

In 1767 she married John Damer, the son of Lord Milton, later the 1st Earl of Dorchester. The couple received an income of £5,000 from Lord Milton, and were left large fortunes by Milton and Henry Conway.[4] Damer was described as a poor businessman, who had a taste for expensive clothing. The marriage was not a successful one. The couple had no children and separated after seven years.

In 1775, Anne was included in a painting titled The Three Witches from Macbeth by Daniel Gardner (c. 1750 – 1805), which can be found in the National Portrait Gallery, London. The work shows her next to other ladies of high society: Elizabeth Lamb, Viscountess Melbourne and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.[3]

Anne Damer with the Duchess of Devonshire and Lady Melbourne in Witches Round the Cauldron by Daniel Gardner (1775)

Damer's husband died by suicide in 1776, leaving considerable debts. As a widow, Damer benefitted from a prenuptial agreement whereby her father-in-law was obliged to pay her £2500 a year. This money allowed her to be financially independent, and continue her artistic career, whilst maintaining a full social life, on a more intellectual plane than that of her earlier married years.[3]

Damer was a frequent visitor to Europe. In 1779, she had watched from the deck, a four-hour running gunfight between a French privateer and the cross-Channel packet boat on which she was travelling.[3] During one voyage she was captured by a privateer, but released unharmed in Jersey. In 1790–91, she travelled alone through Portugal and Spain and back through revolutionary France. She visited Sir Horace Mann in Florence, and Sir William Hamilton in Naples, where she was introduced to Lord Nelson.

In 1801, she published a novel, Belmour, a book she had written in Lisbon. It ran to three editions and was translated into French.[3][5][6] In 1802, while the Treaty of Amiens was in effect, she visited Paris with the author Mary Berry and was granted an audience with Napoleon.

A fluent French speaker, Damer became friends with Josephine Buonaparte. They corresponded about gardening and plants, mostly in connection to Josephine's garden at Malmaison. Anne had also discussed this with Sir Joseph Banks, one of the founders of the Royal Horticultural Society. A sculptural bust she made of Banks can be found in the British Museum. In 1815, she travelled to Elba, the island where Napoleon had been exiled. She travelled there despite the ongoing war between France and Britain. The Emperor gifted her a snuff box featuring his portrait, which is housed in the British Museum.[3]

When Horace Walpole died in 1797, he left a life interest in Strawberry Hill to Damer. She had the job of recording the contents of Strawberry Hill for the Berry family, who had moved into an adjoining property. Anne used Strawberry Hill as her country house until 1811, which she maintained alongside her central London home in Upper Brook Street. In 1818, she returned to Twickenham, buying York House.

From 1818, Anne Damer lived at York House, Twickenham. She continued to sculpt until the end of her life. She died, aged 79, in 1828 at her London house, 27 Upper Brook Street, Grosvenor Square.[7] She was buried in the church at Sundridge, Kent.

According to Richard Webb, she directed in her will that her correspondence be destroyed and that she be buried with the bones of her dog and her sculpting tools.[3]

Works[edit]

The development of Anne Seymour Damer's interest in sculpture is credited to David Hume (who served as Under-Secretary when her father was Secretary of State, 1766–1768) and to the encouragement of Horace Walpole, who was her guardian during her parents' frequent trips abroad. According to Walpole, her training included lessons in modelling from Giuseppe Ceracchi, in marble carving from John Bacon, and in anatomy from William Cumberland Cruikshank.

During the period 1784–1818, Damer exhibited 32 works as an honorary exhibitor at the Royal Academy. Her work, primarily busts in Neoclassical style, developed from early wax sculptures to technically complex ones in works in terracotta, bronze and marble. Her subjects, largely drawn from friends and colleagues in Whig circles, included Lady Melbourne, Nelson, Joseph Banks, George III, Mary Berry, Charles James Fox and herself. She executed several actors' portraits, such as the busts of her friends Sarah Siddons and Elizabeth Farren (as the Muses Melpomene and Thalia).

She produced keystone sculptures of Isis and Tamesis for each side of the central arch on the bridge at Henley-on-Thames.[8] The original models are in the Henley Gallery of the River and Rowing Museum nearby. Another major architectural work was her 10-foot statue of Apollo, now destroyed, for the frontage of Drury Lane theatre. She also created two bas-reliefs for the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery of scenes from Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra.

Gallery[edit]

Personal life[edit]

Damer's friends included a number of influential Whigs and aristocrats. Her guardian and friend Horace Walpole was a significant figure, who helped foster her career and on his death left her his London villa, Strawberry Hill. She also moved in literary and theatrical circles, where her friends included the poet and dramatist Joanna Baillie, the author Mary Berry, and the actors Sarah Siddons and Elizabeth Farren. She frequently took part in masques at the Pantheon and amateur theatricals at the London residence of the Duke of Richmond, who was married to her half-sister.[9]

A number of sources have named Damer as being involved in lesbian relationships, particularly relating to her close friendship with Mary Berry, to whom she had been introduced by Walpole in 1789, and with whom she lived together in her later years. Even during her marriage, her likings for male clothing and demonstrative friendships with other women were publicly noted and satirised by hostile commentators such as Hester Thrale[10] and in the anonymous pamphlet A Sapphick Epistle from Jack Cavendish to the Honourable and most Beautiful, Mrs D— (c. 1770).[11][12]

A romance between Damer and Elizabeth Farren, who was mentioned by Thrale, is the central storyline in the 2004 novel Life Mask by Emma Donoghue.[13]

References[edit]

  • Seewald, Jan. Theatrical Sculpture. Skulptierte Bildnisse berühmter englischer Schauspieler (1750–1850), insbesondere David Garrick und Sarah Siddons. Herbert Utz Verlag, München 2007, ISBN 978-3-8316-0671-9.
  1. ^ The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster Vol. IV. 1741-1760. 30 November 1748.
  2. ^ Stephen, Leslie (1888). "Damer, Anne Seymour" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 13. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 450–451.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Webb, Richard (2014). "Anne Seymour Damer – Sculpture & Society". The Strawberry Hill.
  4. ^ Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1887). "Conway, Henry Seymour" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 12. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  5. ^ Damer, Anne Seymour (1827). Belmour: a novel, Volume 1. London: H. Colburn. p. 335.
  6. ^ Damer, Anne Seymour (1827). Belmour: a novel, Volume 2. London: H. Colburn. p. 349.
  7. ^ Wheatley, Henry Benjamin (1881). London, Past and Present. London: Murray. p. 283.
  8. ^ Walpole, Horace (1891). Peter Cunningham (ed.). The letters of Horace Walpole, fourth earl of Orford, Volume 8. London: R. Bentley. pp. 550–551.
  9. ^ The Letters of Horace Walpole: Earl of Orford, Horace Walpole, H.G. Bohn, 1861. Internet Archive
  10. ^ Oram, Alison; Turnbull, Annmarie (2001). The Lesbian History Sourcebook: Love and Sex Between Women in Britain from 1780 to 1970. Psychology Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-415-11484-4.
  11. ^ Yarrington, Alison (2004). "Damer, Anne Seymour (1748–1828)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/7084. Retrieved 16 August 2007. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  12. ^ Rictor Norton (Ed.), "A Sapphick Epistle, 1778", Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook. 1 December 1999, updated 23 February 2003 <"Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England". Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.> Retrieved on 16 August 2007
  13. ^ "Interview with Emma Donoghue, Life Mask". Harcourt Trade Publishers. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.

External links[edit]

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