John Downman A.R.A 1750-1824 Portrait of Mrs Sarah Anne King and her Daughter Anne Maria. Watercolour and stump over pencil. Signed and dated lower left. Jo Downman 1805. 25.2 by 30.2 cms. Provenance: With Leger & Son March 1946. Sotheby's 27/11/2003 lot 221. Christies 9/12/2015. Private Collection UK. Literature: GC Williamson, John Downman A.R.A His life and works, 1907. p.xxxii and p.lix no.25.
The sitter was the daughter of Admiral Sir John Duckworth and Anne Wallis. She was married to Captain King RN (later Vice Admiral Sir Richard King) in November 1803 at Stoke Damerel in Devon. At the time this portrait was made her husband was in Command of the Achille and fought with distinction at the Battle of Trafalgar. Sarah died in 1819. Her daughter in 1869. There are two studies for this portrait in an album in The British Museum Collection titled "in a Group with her Child. the Lady of Captain King RN 1805/ she was the daughter of Admiral Sir John Duckworth" museum number 1936,1116.29.26