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Johan Zoffany, Zoffani or Zauffelij (13 March 1733 – 11 November 1810)
The Sharp Family
Oil on canvas, 1779-1781
45 1/2 in. x 49 1/2 in. (1156 mm x 1257 mm)
National Portrait Gallery, London, England
Lent by Trustees of the Lloyd-Baker Settled Estates, 1978
Mary Lloyd-Baker (née Sharp) (1778-1812), Daughter of William Sharp.
Elizabeth Prowse (née Sharp) (1733-1810), Sister of Granville and William Sharp.
Anna Jemima Sharp (born 1762?), Daughter of John Sharp.
Catherine Sharp (née Barwick) (1741?-1814), Wife of William Sharp.
Catherine Sharp (1770-1843), Daughter of James Sharp.
Frances Sharp (1738-1799), Sister of Granville and William Sharp.
Granville Sharp (1735-1813), Scholar and philanthropist.
James Sharp (1730-1783), Ironmaster; brother of Granville and William Sharp.
Mrs James Sharp (née Lodge).
John Sharp (1723-1792), Archdeacon of Northumberland.
Judith Sharp (1733-1809), Sister of Granville and William Sharp.
Mary Sharp (née Dering) (1720-1798), Wife of John Sharp.
William Sharp (1729-1810), Surgeon to George III.
This portrait
The remarkable Sharp family gave fortnightly concerts as an orchestra from the 1750s onwards. This conversation piece, one of Zoffany’s masterpieces, commemorates the concerts they gave on board their sailing barge Apollo at Fulham. The work was commissioned from Zoffany by William Sharp, surgeon to George III. Sharp is seen standing at the tiller, hat raised, wearing the Windsor uniform with its distinctive red collar; his instruments are the French horns which rest on the piano. Of his three brothers, Dr John Sharp is on the right and has laid his cello aside for the moment; Granville Sharp, the famous philanthropist and slavery abolitionist, holds his favoured flageolets in one hand, his clarinet being nearby on the piano; while James Sharp, an engineer, holds the serpent. The three Sharp sisters complete the orchestra: Elizabeth at the piano, Judith with music in hand and, above to the right, Frances with a theorbo or perhaps an angelica.
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