Sabine Louise Winn (1734–1798) was a Swiss patron of the arts and a pioneering textile artist.

Early life

She was born in

Vevey Vevey (; frp, Vevê; german: label=former German, Vivis) is a town in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the district ...

in Switzerland on 25 March 1734 to Jacques Philippe d’Hervart (1706–1764), Baron de Saint-Légier and Governor of Vevey and his wife, Jeanne Esther Dunz (c.1707–1779). They were

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Bez ...

. On 11 October 1754 she married her first husband, Gabriel May (1717–1759). After May's death, 4 December 1761, she married Rowland Winn (fifth baronet, 1739–1785). The couple lived at

Nostell Priory Nostell Priory is a Palladian house in Nostell, West Yorkshire, England, near Crofton on the road to Doncaster from Wakefield. It dates from 1733, and was built for the Winn family on the site of a medieval priory. The Priory and its content ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. A neighbour, Catherine Cappe, claimed that "the peace of the

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

family" was "entirely destroyed" by the return of the newlyweds to Yorkshire. Winn herself was very unhappy in Yorkshire, which she described as "one of the most desolate and gloomy corners of the universe".

Nostell Priory

The couple commissioned

Thomas Chippendale Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779) was a cabinet-maker in London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs in a trade catalogue titled ''The Gentleman and Cab ...

and

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...

to redesign the interior of

. The couple were painted by

Hugh Douglas Hamilton Hugh Douglas Hamilton ( – 10 February 1808) was an Irish portrait-painter. He spent considerable periods in London and Rome before returning to Dublin in the early 1790s. Until the mid-1770s he worked mostly in pastel. His style influence ...

in 1767. During her time at Nostell, Winn engaged in textile art forms. She has been credited by historian Serena Dyer as an early crafter of dressed prints in Britain.

Death

After the death of her husband, Winn remained as Nostell. By 1798 she had "so far lost the use of her limbs, as to be obliged to be lifted by two people in and out of bed". She died on 16 September 1798.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winn, Sabine Patrons of the arts 18th-century textile artists 18th-century women textile artists People from Vevey 1734 births 1798 deaths 18th-century Swiss women artists Huguenots Swiss emigrants to the United Kingdom 18th-century Swiss artists