Download/Print Selected Image
Copy Caption to clipboard
Anne Seymour Damer, 1748–1828, British, Bust of Niobe's Daughter, after the Antique, 1780
- Title:
Bust of Niobe's Daughter, after the Antique
- Former Title(s):
Head of Niobe, after the Antique
- Date:
- 1780
- Medium:
- Terracotta
- Dimensions:
- Overall: 17 1/4 x 9 x 8 1/2 inches (43.8 x 22.9 x 21.6 cm)
- Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Signed and dated incised on back: “anne / damer / 1780 / fecit”
- Credit Line:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
- Copyright Status:
- Public Domain
- Accession Number:
- B2011.15.1
- Classification:
- Sculptures
- Collection:
- Paintings and Sculpture
- Subject Terms:
- daughter | portrait | sadness | woman
- Associated People:
- Niobe
- Access:
- Not on view
Note: To make an appointment to see this work, please contact the Paintings and Sculpture department at ycba.paintings@yale.edu. Please visit the Paintings and Sculpture collections page on our website for more details. - Link:
- https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:63916
- Export:
- XML
- IIIF Manifest:
- JSON
This bust is based on a figure from the celebrated group of ancient marbles representing Niobe and her daughters, which was much admired by Grand Tourists in the Uffizi in Florence. Anne Seymour Damer was an English aristocrat whose artistic career was encouraged by both the philosopher David Hume and the connoisseur Horace Walpole. She focused on sculpture, exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy, and made an extended trip to Italy in 1778–79, where she would have encountered the Niobe group and modeled this terracotta study after the head of one of Niobe’s doomed daughters. According to Greek mythology, because of Niobe’s hubris and boastfulness regarding her ability to have many children, Artemis killed Niobe’s daughters, and Apollo murdered her sons. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016
If you have information about this object that may be of assistance please contact us.