(Pennsylvania/Britain, 1783-1872) Miss Esther Hoppin (1819-1905), signed lower left "TS 1840", oil on artist board with colourman label for "G. Rowney & Co.", 24-1/8 x 20-1/8 in.; gilt wood and composition frame, slight convexity to board, a few small points of retouch. Notes: George Peabody, considered the father of modern philanthropy, once expressed his commitment to humanity as stemming from his “disappointment long ago", likely his broken engagement in late 1838 to Esther Elizabeth Hoppin. This boasted Providence, Rhode Island beauty traveled to London for the June 28, 1838 coronation of young Queen Victoria. Here Peabody met, fell in love with, and became engaged to Esther Hoppin. But on her return to the East Coast she resumed a friendship with Alexander Lardner in Philadelphia. She realized her mistake, broke the engagement to Peabody by letter and married Alexander Lardner. Thomas Sully's most celebrated work is that of the young Queen Victoria painted in 1838, the same year as her coronation. It is this painting that perhaps inspired Miss Esther Hoppin to do the same. Begun in October 1840, the same month and year of her marriage to Alexander Lardner, it was perhaps a nod to her own celebrated transition.. Provenance: Bayard Nichols; Isaac Starr, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Collection of Charles Edward Brodnax Hansell and Sylvia Hansell, Mimosa Hall, Roswell, Georgia; by descent in family; Literature:
[A Register of Portraits Painted By Thomas Sully], Charles Henry Hart, Editor, Philadelphia, 1908 as # 989, listed as "Lardner Mrs., "formerly Miss Hoppy." 24 x 20 in., 1840;  Esther Hoppin (1819-1905) of Providence, R. I., married Alexander Lardner, of Philadelphia. Owned by Mrs. Isaac Starr, Philadelphia.”; Robert M. Hicklin, Jr. South Carolina, purchased in 1985

slight convexity to board, a few small points of retouch