Signed and dated, middle right: J. S. Copley, fec. 1779

At center right, J. S. Copley, fec. 1779

1779-1809, the sitter, Mrs. Clark Gayton

1809-1822, her third husband, Reverend James Pigott

his daughter, Lydia Pigott [Mrs. William Thresher] (Fareham, Hampshire, England)

Captain W. Thresher (R.N., Avenue End, Fareham, Hampshire, England)

his niece, Lucy Mabel Thresher. 1922, O'Hagan sale (Christie's, lot 106, London, England). (M. Knoedler Co., London, England). 1927, Woolworth sale, (lot 876, American Art Association)

1927, Metropolitan Galleries (New York, New York, USA)

1927-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

Burroughs, Clyde. “A Portrait by Copley.” Bulletin of the DIA 9, 6 (March 1928): pp. 69-70 (ill.). Bolton, Theodore and Harry Lorin Binsse. “John Singleton Copley.” Antiquarian 15 (December 1930): p. 116. Heil, Walter and Clyde H. Burroughs. Catalogue of Paintings in the Permanent Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts of the City of Detroit. Detroit, 1930, no. 285. Richardson, Edgar P. “American Portrait Painting.” Bulletin of the DIA 14, 1 (October 1934): p. 11. Prown, Jules D. John S. Copley 1774-1815. Cambridge, MA, 1966, pp. 275, 420 (fig. 384). Shaw, Nancy Rivard, et al. American Paintings in the Detroit Institute of Arts, Volume I. New York, 1991, pp. 64-65 (ill.). Ferguson, Patricia. "Indoor Gardening in the Eighteenth-Century." Antiques 155, 1 (January 1999): pp. 168-177 (ill.). American Beauty: Painting and Sculpture from the Detroit Institute of Arts, 1770-1920. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 2002, pp. 13-14, no. 6 (ill.).

John Singleton Copley, Mrs. Clark Gayton, 1779, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Mr. D. J. Healy, 27.556.