Lot Essay
This unfinished watercolour, perhaps a study for an unexecuted oil, is comparable to a portrait offered at Christie's, London, 29 March 1996, lot 69, inscribed 'Madame Eugéne Greig (?) en Promenade St Germain Août 1879'. On account of the costume worn by Mme Greig, this has now been redated to the early 1870s. The pose and colouring of the two portraits and the landscape background of the Forest of St. Germain, outside the Paris suburb of St. Germain-en-Laye, are markedly similar.
Lady Mary Craven, who was identified as the sitter when the picture was acquired in Paris by Julian G. Lousada in 1923, would appear to be Evelyn Mary, second daughter of William, 2nd Earl of Craven, of Hamstead Marshall, Newbury. In 1862 she married George Brudenell Bruce, heir to the 3rd Marquess of Ailesbury. After his death in 1868 she married Captain Henry Beauclerk Coventry. He divorced her in 1877, in which year she married George Hutton Riddell of Muselee, Roxburghsire.
We are grateful to Professor Willard E. Misfeldt for his help in preparing this entry.
Lady Mary Craven, who was identified as the sitter when the picture was acquired in Paris by Julian G. Lousada in 1923, would appear to be Evelyn Mary, second daughter of William, 2nd Earl of Craven, of Hamstead Marshall, Newbury. In 1862 she married George Brudenell Bruce, heir to the 3rd Marquess of Ailesbury. After his death in 1868 she married Captain Henry Beauclerk Coventry. He divorced her in 1877, in which year she married George Hutton Riddell of Muselee, Roxburghsire.
We are grateful to Professor Willard E. Misfeldt for his help in preparing this entry.