Wright, Patience Lovell

Wright, Patience Lovell, 1725–86, American sculptor, b. Bordentown, N.J., mother of Joseph Wright. Her portraits, modeled in wax, were the earliest recorded attempts at sculptural expression in the American colonies. They were highly praised there and in England, where she lived after 1772 and where she modeled likenesses of the king, the queen, and other notables. It is said that in the Revolution she rendered service to the Americans by reporting British plans and preparations. Her full-length likeness of William Pitt was placed in Westminster Abbey. The painter John Hoppner was her son-in-law.