Anne Mee

1785–May 28, 1851

Active in: England
Alternate names: Anne Foldsone, Ann Foldsone Mee

Biography

Born in London in 1775, Anne Mee was the eldest of seven children born to the painter John Foldsone (d. 1784) and his wife Elizabeth. John Foldsone was a portraitist and copyist who often exhibited at the Society of Artists and the Royal Academy. Mee began painting when she was twelve years old and she began her formal education at Madame Pomier’s school in Queen Square, London, in 1777, with the financial support of George Romney (1734–1802). In 1784, her father died, and she became the primary provider for her family.

By 1804, Meewas able to ask as much as forty guineas for a miniature, a very high price relative to her contemporaries. On May 16th, 1793, she married Joseph Mee (d. 1849) at Marylebone Church. Together, they had eight children and one, her son Arthur Patrick Mee (1802–1868), became an architect who exhibited at the Royal Academy. In 1811, Mee published a serial called Gallery of Beauties in the Court of George III, although there was just one edition. Between 1815 and 1837, she continued to accept portrait commissions and to exhibit at the Royal Academy. Her husband died in 1849 and on May 28th, 1851, she died in London at the age of seventy-six.

Selected Works

A bust-length portrait miniature of a woman looking off to her left. Her hair is curly, loosely piled on her hear, and she wears a simple choker necklace. She has a soft, neutral expression with large eyes.

Anne Mee, Portrait of a Woman, Possibly Barbara (1768–1829), Marchioness of Donegall, ca. 1790. Ivory, 7.3 x 5.3 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

An oval portrait miniature of the artist wearing a white dress with a white scarf tied in her hair. Curls frame her face and fall around her shoulders. She looks out directly at the viewer with a confident, neutral expression. She has intense blue eyes and coral cheeks and lips.

Anne Mee, Self-Portrait, ca. 1795. Watercolor on ivory, 7.6 x 5.6 cm. Victoria & Albert Museum.

A half-length, rectangular portrait miniature of a young woman looking directly out at the viewer. She holds her head in one hand, with her elbow propped on a table covered in blue cloth. She wears two pearl bracelets and a pink gown, with her hair parted down the middle and her curls pulled up around her face.

Anne Mee, Miss Elliott, ca. 1825. Watercolor on ivory, 10.8 x 8.3 cm. Victoria & Albert Museum.

An oval portrait miniature of a young woman looking directly at the viewer with a slight smile. Her curly bangs are parted in the middle, and she has bright blue eyes. She is wearing a cream-colored dress with a long beaded necklace. The portrait is set in a simple gold frame.

Anne Mee, Princess Sophia (1777-1848) , ca. 1825. Watercolor on ivory, 3.3 x 2.7 cm. Royal Collection Trust.

A rectangular portrait miniature of a young woman surrounded in a diaphanous swirl of fabric. Her curly hair is loose on our side and floats around as if there is wind. She looks up to the upper left corner of the composition with both her hands raised.

Anne Mee, Anne, Countess of Charlemont (1780-1876) , ca. 1812–14. Watercolor on ivory, 19.2 x 13.7 cm. Royal Collection Trust.

A rectangular, three-quarters length portrait in a gold frame. The young woman is wearing a white gown with blue fabric draped across her. She is leaning on a pedestal or table, with one elbow propped up and her chin in her hand. Curls frame her face, and her waist-length hair is loose in the back. The background is a neutral brown-gray color, with a curtain tied back on the left side.

Anne Mee, Jane, Countess of Galloway (1774-1842) , ca. 1812–14. Watercolor on ivory, 19.5 x 13.3 cm. Royal Collection Trust.

A three-quarters length portrait of a young woman in a gold frame. She appears in a sheer, diaphanous dress, looking directly at the viewer. Her long hair is worn loose, and she holds locks of hair in her right hand. The background is blue and dreamy, but ambiguous.

Anne Mee, Catherine, Lady Heathcote (c.1774-1825) , 1813. Watercolor on ivory, 21.4 x 15.6 cm. Royal Collection Trust.

A half-length portrait miniature of a young woman in a black dress, wearing a sheer black veil covering the back of her hair and her shoulders. She is seated holding papers, and she looks up to meet the viewer’s gaze directly. The background is gray and red, and there is a gold cloth on the table where she rests her forearms.

Anne Mee, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (1757-1806) , 1813. Watercolor on ivory, 18.7 x 14.9 cm. Royal Collection Trust.

A rectangular portrait miniature of a young woman wearing a black dress with a white lace collar and a white veil attached to a black headband. She wears a pearl necklace with a jeweled pendant. The portrait is half-length, in front of a neutral brown background, and she looks off to the left.

Anne Mee, Box with Miniature of Princess Amelia (1783-1810) , 1807–15. Watercolor on ivory miniature; tortoiseshell and gold box, 2.3 x 9.2 x 7.2 cm. Royal Collection Trust.

Continue Exploring

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Selected works

Circle

Daughter of
John Foldsone (d. 1784)

Wife of
Joseph Mee (d. 1849)

Mother of
Arthur Patrick Mee (1802-1868)

Beneficiary of
George Romney (1734-1802)

Bibliography

Burke, John. The Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Females, Including Beauties of the Courts of George IV and William IV. London: Bull, 1833.

Clayton, Ellen C. English Female Artists. London: Tinsley, 1876.

Foskett, Daphne. Miniatures: Dictionary and Guide. Suffolk: Antique Collectors’ Club, 1987.

Layard, George Somes, ed. Sir Thomas Lawrence's Letter Bag. London: Allen, 1906.

Lloyd, Christopher and Vanessa Remington. Masterpieces in little: Portrait Miniatures from the Collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Suffolk: Boydell, 1997.

Long, Basil S. British Miniaturists. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1929.

Papendiek, Charlotte Louise Henrietta. Court and private life in the time of Queen Charlotte, being the journals of Mrs Papendiek, […]. London: R. Bentley & sons, 1887.

Propert, John Lumsden. A History of Miniature Art; with Notes on Collectors and Collections. London: Macmillan & Co., 1887.

Reynolds, Graham, and Katharine Baetjer. European Miniatures in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Abrams, 1996.

Sparrow, Walter Shaw, ed. Women Painters of the World, From the Time of Caterina Vigri, 1413-1463, to Rosa Bonheur and the Present Day. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1905.

Walker, Richard. The Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Williamson, G. C. "Four Miniatures of the Keppel Family." Art Journal, 1839-1912 (1911): 222-224.