Drapery Study for "Mary and Elizabeth Royall", John Singleton Copley, c. 1758

John Singleton CopleyAmerican, 1738–1815

Drapery Study for "Mary and Elizabeth Royall"

c. 1758 · Drawing

Can I see it?

Not on view at present

Where is “Drapery Study for "Mary and Elizabeth Royall"” now? Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Not on view at present. Checked October 12, 2026.

National Gallery of Art

Washington, D.C., United States

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked: 15 hours ago
In this state since: Aug 19, 2026
Source: The museum

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Details

Accession number: 1980.4.1

What it shows

Seated figure Group Drapery study

In the catalog

Drawings & watercolors Graphite Rococo 18th century American

Sources

National Gallery of Art
Image: National Gallery of Art — Museum open access

In the life of John Singleton Copley

The whole life

1750s
Self-education: engravings and anatomical studies
Copley is largely self-taught, copying engravings after Godfrey Kneller, Joshua Reynolds and other masters. A book of his studies of the figure, now at the British Museum, shows that before he was twenty he was making anatomical drawings with much care and precision.
1753–1774 · Workplace
Boston
October 1757
An invitation to paint portraits in Nova Scotia
Capt. Thomas Ainslie, collector of the Port of Quebec, writes from Halifax acknowledging his portrait with great satisfaction and advises Copley to visit Nova Scotia, where several people would gladly employ him. The invitation was later repeated from Quebec; Copley replied that he would be glad to accept but had a large room full of unfinished pictures that would keep him busy for twelve months.
1760s
A needy tobacconist’s son among Boston’s elite
The income Copley earned by painting in the 1760s was extraordinary for his town and time and raised the son of a needy tobacconist into the local aristocracy. The foremost personages of New England came to his painting-room as sitters.

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