Lot 65

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTION (LOTS 65-67) The following three portraits depict members of the Sturt family of Crichel House, Horton, Dorset and were hung in the boudoir at Crichel (Fig. 1). Humphry Sturt, whose wife Mary (née Pitfield) is shown in Gardner's portrait, inherited Crichel from his grandfather in 1741 and devoted his energies into developing and improving his estate. In 1756 he married Mary, who bore eighteen children, of whom fourteen survived. Only an incomplete account of this large family can be in found in such authorities as Namier & Brooke and Burke's Peerage. It is possible however to deduce that the children in both the Read and Gardner portraits were Mary's three eldest children. The pair of Read pastels predate the Gardner group and portray Diana and Mary, born in 1758 and 1759 respectively. These were probably executed close to 1770 when the girls were aged twelve and thirteen. Diana (lot 64), who married Sir William Mordaunt Milner, Bt., in 1776, was painted many times throughout her life, notably by Nathaniel Hone, Lawrence and Romney. In contrast, far less is known about Mary who appears not to have married, and her life remains rather obscure. The girls' costumes with dresses in white cotton embroidered with gold motifs and ermine trimmed cloaks in contrasting colours derive from the Turkish repertoire popularized in England by Liotard during his first London visit (1753-55). There was a third portrait in this group in a similarly Eastern themed style by Read, showing Mrs Sturt with her third child and eldest son, Humphry Ashley Sturt (1760-1825), which is now known only from Watson's 1771 engraving. It is probable that like Diana and Mary, Humphry reappears in Gardner's imposing portrait a few years later in around 1777. Gardner's family portrait shows Mrs Sturt with her three eldest children. Diana is seated with a small dog and, as in the earlier Read portrait, is shown with her cittern. This points to her continued love of music, which she maintained as Lady Milner as a patron if not a performer. A Sonata and Overture for the Piano Forte 'composed and adapted by Maximilan Humble humbly dedicated to Lady Milner', was registered at Stationer's Hall in 1793. Humphry who stands with his cricket bat, was to marry a parson's daughter, Mary Woodcock to the dismay of his family. He was disinherited and Crichel passed to his younger brother Charles Sturt (1764-1812). It is difficult to establish where the portraits were painted, but they may have been executed in London, where Mrs Sturt is known to have occupied Brandenburgh House in Hammersmith. However, all three lavish depictions illustrate the taste in the highest society for dressing up and the appeal of the exotic rendered in colourful vibrancy by two esteemed fashionable artists of the time. We are grateful to Neil Jeffares for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.

Daniel Gardner (Kendal 1750-1805 London)

A full length portrait of Mary Sturt of Crichel (1740-1807) standing with her three eldest children, Diana, Mary and Humphry

Details

Daniel Gardner (Kendal 1750-1805 London)
A full length portrait of Mary Sturt of Crichel (1740-1807) standing with her three eldest children, Diana, Mary and Humphry
pencil, pastel and bodycolour, extended along the left margin, in the original carved and gilded frame
36 x 27 5/8 in. (91.5 x 70.2 cm.)
in the original carved and gilded frame

Provenance

By descent in the family to the Hon. Mrs Marten.

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Lot Essay

Gardner received his early tuition from George Romney (1735-1802). He was born in Kendal, Westmorland, but moved to London at the end of the 1760s. In 1770, he enrolled at the Royal Academy Schools, where he was taught by Benjamin West (1738-1820) and Johan Joseph Zoffany (1733-1810). Gardner was awarded the Silver Medal in 1771 and exhibited at the Royal Academy in the same year. On leaving the Schools, he entered Reynolds's studio as an assistant. Gardner's group portraits such as the present work are considered among his most accomplished works.

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