.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This portrait is believed to be of the three children of John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer (1734-1783), of Althorp, Northamptonshire, and his wife Georgiana (d.1814), eldest daughter of The Rt. Hon. Stephen Poyntz, of Midgham, Berkshire. George John, Viscount Althorp, later 2nd Earl Spencer (1758-1834), is shown holding a bow; Georgiana, later Duchess of Devonshire (1757-1806), is shown seated with a posy of flowers; and Henrietta Frances, later Countess of Bessborough (1761-1821), stands in the centre of the composition holding an arrow.
The Spencers were one of the wealthiest families in England, the sitters' grandfather, the Hon. John Spencer (1708-1783), having inherited not only the estates of his father, the eminent statesman the 3rd Earl of Sunderland, but also a considerable fortune from his maternal grandmother, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. Their prominence in aristocratic circles was reinforced by the generation in this portrait. George John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, was educated at Cambridge, and following a Grand Tour he was returned as Member of Parliament for Northampton, and later in 1782, for Surrey. He was affiliated to the Whig party by birth and also by the marriage of his sisters respectively to the Duke of Devonshire and the Earl of Bessborough, and during the short Rockingham ministry he was one of the junior Lords of the Treasury. He succeeded his father as Earl Spencer in 1783. After the French Revolution and the declaration of war between England and France he joined with Edmund Burke and supported the policy of Pitt. In 1794 he was nominated a Privy Councillor, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, and then First Lord of the Admiralty. As First Lord of the Admiralty for six years from 1794, he played a crucial role in the war with France; it was under his direction that the battles of St. Vincent and Camperdown were fought and won, and he was largely responsible for Nelson being singled out for independent command and sent to the Mediteranean to win the battle of the Nile. With the resignation of Pitt in February 1801 he left office. He was later Home Secretary during Fox's administration but increasingly devoted himself to administrative work in Northamptonshire and to other literary and scientific pursuits. He married Lavinia, eldest daughter of Charles Bingham, 1st Earl of Lucan, who was renowned for her beauty and intelligence, and was a prominent figure in London Society. George John Spencer and his wife were also portrayed by Sir Joshua Reynolds (see D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds, A complete Catalogue of his Paintings, New Haven and London, 2000, nos. 1675, 1683 and 1684, II, figs. 1128, 1470, and 1422).
Georgiana Spencer, who married William, 5th Duke of Devonshire, in 1774, was to become one of the most glamorous figures of her day. Her husband was widely considered to be the 'first match' in England and she became the reigning queen of society and an arbiteur of contemporary fashion. Besides her beauty she possessed a considerable intellect and her charm and influence were felt well beyond the boundaries of fashionable society. Among her close friends she counted Fox and Sheridan. Her intervention on behalf of Charles James Fox in the famous Westminister election of 1784 earned her considerable notoriety as did her acceptance of the relationship of her husband with her close friend Lady Elizabeth Foster. When a child, Georgiana Spencer was also portrayed by Sir Joshua Reynolds both individually and in a group portrait with her mother, in 1759 (see D. Mannings, op. cit., I, 1680 and 1677, II, figs. 446 and 464). After her marriage Reynolds portrayed her again in a full-length and also in a celebrated double portrait with her young daughter, Lady Georgiana Cavendish (respectively Huntingdon Art Gallery, San Marino, California, and the Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth; see D. Mannings, op.cit., I, nos. 327 and 329, figs. 1166 and 1425). She also sat to Gainsborough whose full-length portrait of her is in the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
The sitter's father, John, 1st Viscount Spencer, and his wife had travelled to Italy in June 1763, together with one of their young daughters, where they met Angelica Kauffmann in Rome; and when the artist moved to London in June 1766 the Spencers were among her earliest patrons. A later group portrait of Viscount Spencer's children by Kauffmann, of small-full-length format, executed some years later (circa 1774), remains at Althorp, Northamptonshire (fig.1; see Lady V. Manners and Dr. G.C. Williamson, Angelica Kauffmann, R.A., her Life and work, London, 1924, p.210).
The Spencers were one of the wealthiest families in England, the sitters' grandfather, the Hon. John Spencer (1708-1783), having inherited not only the estates of his father, the eminent statesman the 3rd Earl of Sunderland, but also a considerable fortune from his maternal grandmother, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. Their prominence in aristocratic circles was reinforced by the generation in this portrait. George John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, was educated at Cambridge, and following a Grand Tour he was returned as Member of Parliament for Northampton, and later in 1782, for Surrey. He was affiliated to the Whig party by birth and also by the marriage of his sisters respectively to the Duke of Devonshire and the Earl of Bessborough, and during the short Rockingham ministry he was one of the junior Lords of the Treasury. He succeeded his father as Earl Spencer in 1783. After the French Revolution and the declaration of war between England and France he joined with Edmund Burke and supported the policy of Pitt. In 1794 he was nominated a Privy Councillor, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, and then First Lord of the Admiralty. As First Lord of the Admiralty for six years from 1794, he played a crucial role in the war with France; it was under his direction that the battles of St. Vincent and Camperdown were fought and won, and he was largely responsible for Nelson being singled out for independent command and sent to the Mediteranean to win the battle of the Nile. With the resignation of Pitt in February 1801 he left office. He was later Home Secretary during Fox's administration but increasingly devoted himself to administrative work in Northamptonshire and to other literary and scientific pursuits. He married Lavinia, eldest daughter of Charles Bingham, 1st Earl of Lucan, who was renowned for her beauty and intelligence, and was a prominent figure in London Society. George John Spencer and his wife were also portrayed by Sir Joshua Reynolds (see D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds, A complete Catalogue of his Paintings, New Haven and London, 2000, nos. 1675, 1683 and 1684, II, figs. 1128, 1470, and 1422).
Georgiana Spencer, who married William, 5th Duke of Devonshire, in 1774, was to become one of the most glamorous figures of her day. Her husband was widely considered to be the 'first match' in England and she became the reigning queen of society and an arbiteur of contemporary fashion. Besides her beauty she possessed a considerable intellect and her charm and influence were felt well beyond the boundaries of fashionable society. Among her close friends she counted Fox and Sheridan. Her intervention on behalf of Charles James Fox in the famous Westminister election of 1784 earned her considerable notoriety as did her acceptance of the relationship of her husband with her close friend Lady Elizabeth Foster. When a child, Georgiana Spencer was also portrayed by Sir Joshua Reynolds both individually and in a group portrait with her mother, in 1759 (see D. Mannings, op. cit., I, 1680 and 1677, II, figs. 446 and 464). After her marriage Reynolds portrayed her again in a full-length and also in a celebrated double portrait with her young daughter, Lady Georgiana Cavendish (respectively Huntingdon Art Gallery, San Marino, California, and the Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth; see D. Mannings, op.cit., I, nos. 327 and 329, figs. 1166 and 1425). She also sat to Gainsborough whose full-length portrait of her is in the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
The sitter's father, John, 1st Viscount Spencer, and his wife had travelled to Italy in June 1763, together with one of their young daughters, where they met Angelica Kauffmann in Rome; and when the artist moved to London in June 1766 the Spencers were among her earliest patrons. A later group portrait of Viscount Spencer's children by Kauffmann, of small-full-length format, executed some years later (circa 1774), remains at Althorp, Northamptonshire (fig.1; see Lady V. Manners and Dr. G.C. Williamson, Angelica Kauffmann, R.A., her Life and work, London, 1924, p.210).