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Anne Seymour Damer
Anne Seymour Damer (née Conway; 26 October 1748 – 28 May 1828) was an English sculptor. Described as a 'female genius' by Horace Walpole, she was trained in sculpture by Giuseppe Ceracchi and John Bacon. Influenced by the Enlightenment, Damer was an author, traveller, theatrical producer and actress, as well as an acclaimed sculptor.
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.
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 Lady Caroline Bruce, born Campbell, Lady Ailesbury (1721–1803). Her father was a nephew of Robert Walpole, Britain's first prime minister. Walpole's son, Horace Walpole, was her godfather, and Anne spent much of her childhood in his home in Strawberry Hill. 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. 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. 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.
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. 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.
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.
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. 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.
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Anne Seymour Damer
Anne Seymour Damer (née Conway; 26 October 1748 – 28 May 1828) was an English sculptor. Described as a 'female genius' by Horace Walpole, she was trained in sculpture by Giuseppe Ceracchi and John Bacon. Influenced by the Enlightenment, Damer was an author, traveller, theatrical producer and actress, as well as an acclaimed sculptor.
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.
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 Lady Caroline Bruce, born Campbell, Lady Ailesbury (1721–1803). Her father was a nephew of Robert Walpole, Britain's first prime minister. Walpole's son, Horace Walpole, was her godfather, and Anne spent much of her childhood in his home in Strawberry Hill. 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. 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. 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.
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. 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.
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.
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. 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.