1763 John Singleton Copley 1738-1815 Mrs Alice Hooper Minneapolis Art Museum
The Minneapolis Museum tells us that in this portrait, painted to commemorate the sitter’s recent engagement, Copley suggests Alice Hooper’s fecundity and maternal qualities by situating her against the backdrop of a cultivated garden, her hand caressing the fountain’s trickling water. This portrait depicts Alice, the 17-year-old daughter of Robert "King" Hooper, the wealthiest man in Marblehead, Mass. Robert Hooper commissioned the work on the occasion of Alice's engagement to Jacob Fowle, Jr.
