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Lot Essay
General William John Kerr, 5th Marquess of Lothian, was the only son of General William Henry, 4th Marquess of Lothian, and Lady Caroline, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Holderness. Styled Lord Newbottle, he became Earl of Ancram in 1767, before succeeding his father in 1775. He had an illustrious military career, rising from the rank of Major-General, to Colonel of the 1st Horse Guards in 1777, and attaining the rank of General in 1796. He married Elizabeth, only daughter of Chichester Fortescue, of Dromisken, County Louth, in 1762.
In his 2000 catalogue raisonné of paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds, David Mannings, who at the time knew the picture only from an old photograph in the Waterhouse archive in the Paul Mellon Centre, London, expressed some reservations about the attribution. However, on receiving a photograph of the picture post-conservation he was compelled to observe that the picture looked 'quite different, and much better.' (written communication, 14 June 2001).
Dr. Martin Postle dates the portrait to the late 1750s, when the sitter was in his early twenties (written communication, 18 September 2017). It may have been commissioned to commemorate his promotion to Major of the 11th Dragoons in 1759, which would conform to the sittings to Reynolds recorded that year. The portrait was later in the collection of the sitter's great-great-granddaughter, Mrs. Kellett, née Atherley, of Rotherby, Leicestershire, a direct descendent of Arthur Atherley, who married Lord Ancram's daughter, Louisa. Two further autograph portraits of the Marquess are known, although both are untraced (see D. Mannings, loc. cit.).
In his 2000 catalogue raisonné of paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds, David Mannings, who at the time knew the picture only from an old photograph in the Waterhouse archive in the Paul Mellon Centre, London, expressed some reservations about the attribution. However, on receiving a photograph of the picture post-conservation he was compelled to observe that the picture looked 'quite different, and much better.' (written communication, 14 June 2001).
Dr. Martin Postle dates the portrait to the late 1750s, when the sitter was in his early twenties (written communication, 18 September 2017). It may have been commissioned to commemorate his promotion to Major of the 11th Dragoons in 1759, which would conform to the sittings to Reynolds recorded that year. The portrait was later in the collection of the sitter's great-great-granddaughter, Mrs. Kellett, née Atherley, of Rotherby, Leicestershire, a direct descendent of Arthur Atherley, who married Lord Ancram's daughter, Louisa. Two further autograph portraits of the Marquess are known, although both are untraced (see D. Mannings, loc. cit.).