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拍品 26
Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A. (1723-1792)
Portrait of Mary Townshend (1762-1821), later Countess of Chatham, three-quarter-length, in a blue dress with white lace collar and cuffs, a nosegay of flowers in her right hand, her left hand resting on a plinth
成交價
GBP 33,600
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專家說明
As the daughter of Thomas Townshend (1701-1780), politician, and his wife Albinia (1713/14-1739), daughter of Colonel John Selwyn, the sitter was born into an extremely well-connected and politically influential family, with links to the Selwyns, Walpoles and Pelhams. Her uncle was the wit and politician George Augustus Selwyn (1719-1791); and her brother, Thomas, 1st Viscount Sydney (1733-1800), was Home Secretary under William Pitt. The sitter's maternal-grandfather, John Selwyn (1688-1751) was Secretary of State under Walpole and the famous clash between these two men, which was satirized in act II, scene X of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, occurred in the sitter's grandparents' house at Cleveland Court, St James's, Westminster.
Mannings dates this portrait to c.1757, noting appointments and sittings for a Kitcat-format portrait of a 'Miss Townsend' between April 1757 and January 1759 (op.cit). Reynolds painted the sitter's brother-in-law, George Brodrick, 3rd Viscount Midleton (1730-1765), in the same year (untraced; ibid., p.58, no.41).
Mannings dates this portrait to c.1757, noting appointments and sittings for a Kitcat-format portrait of a 'Miss Townsend' between April 1757 and January 1759 (op.cit). Reynolds painted the sitter's brother-in-law, George Brodrick, 3rd Viscount Midleton (1730-1765), in the same year (untraced; ibid., p.58, no.41).