Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire
c. 1787/1796
Painter, British, 1754 - 1797

Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 59.1 x 39.9 cm (23 1/4 x 15 11/16 in.)
framed: 77.2 x 57.2 x 6.4 cm (30 3/8 x 22 1/2 x 2 1/2 in.) -
Accession
1970.17.119
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
George Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover [1797-1833];[1] by descent to his granddaughter, the Hon. Lilah Agar-Ellis, later Lady Annaly [1862-1944], until c. 1922. (M. Knoedler & Co., London and New York); sold January 1922 to Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; gift to his daughter, Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York, by 1937; bequest 1970 to NGA.
[1] George Agar-Ellis was married to Lady Georgiana Howard, granddaughter of the sitter. His mother was Lady Caroline Spencer [d. 1813], eldest daughter of George, 4th Duke of Marlborough and cousin of the sitter. It is possible that Lady Caroline may have inherited the painting from Georgiana or her husband, William, 5th Duke of Devonshire [1748-1811], and bequeathed it to her son. George's son was Henry Agar-Ellis, whose daughter, the Hon. Lilah Agar-Ellis, later Lady Annaly, inherited the painting.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1867
National Portraits, South Kensington Museum, London, 1867, no. 470.
1885
The Works of Thomas Gainsborough, R.A., Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1885, no. 40.
Bibliography
1903
Gower, Lord Ronald Sutherland. Thomas Gainsborough. London, 1903: repro. opp. 66.
1953
Waterhouse, Ellis Kirkham. "Preliminary Check List of Portraits by Thomas Gainsborough." Walpole Society 33 [1948-1950] (1953): 29.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 144, repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 140, repro.
1992
Hayes, John. British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 66-68, repro. 67.
Wikidata ID
Q20179457