Portrait of Luke Gardiner, Lord Mountjoy (1745-1798), bust-length

Details

Daniel Gardner, A.R.A. (1750-1805)
Portrait of Luke Gardiner, Lord Mountjoy (1745-1798), bust-length
with inscription 'Lord Mountjoy very like the Engleheart miniature ... Rt Hon Luke Gardiner born Feb 7 1745 married July 3 1773, Elizabeth Montgomery Created Baron Montgomery in 1789 and Viscount Mountjoy 1795 Killed in Battle of Ross in 1798. His son was Earl of Blessington in 1814.' (on a label attached to the backboard)
pastel, oval
10¼ x 8 in. (26 x 20.3 cm.)

Provenance

Viscount Harcourt.
with Agnew's, London.

Literature

G.C. Williamson, Daniel Gardner Painter in Pastel and Gouache, London, 1921, p. 102.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

Luke Gardiner was born into a wealthy family of urban developers on Dublin's north side. During his lifetime he sat to several eminent artists such as Francis Cotes and, following his election to the Society of Dilettanti in 1773, he also sat to Sir Joshua Reynolds. In the same year Reynolds painted the famous portrait of the three Montgomery sisters, the 'Irish Graces', at Gardiner's request. His most noteworthy property developments were Mountjoy Square and Rutland Square in Dublin.

Gardiner also had political ambitions and entered the House of Commons in 1773. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Mountjoy in 1790 and six years later became a Viscount.

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