Attr. to George Knapton (British, 1698-1778)

Attributed to George Knapton
(British, 1698-1778)

"Portrait of a Lady in Saffron Silk, Possibly the Right Honourable Lady Elizabeth Harcourt, Later Lady Lee (1739-1811)"

oil on canvas
unsigned, a "James Bourlet & Sons, Ltd./Nassau Street" framer's label and partial Gander & White/London" shipping label en verso, white chalk marked "786/Pendley/248" across top bar of stretcher, numbered "11" on center stretcher bar, and marked "345" verso canvas upper right.
In an attractive carved giltwood frame.
51-1/2" x 38-3/4", framed 59-1/4" x 46-1/4"

Literature: Edward William Harcourt, ed., The Harcourt Papers, Volume I(Oxford: James Parker & Co.), 1880, pp. 253-254.; Bruce Redford, Dilettanti: The Antic and Antique in Eighteenth-Century England (Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum), 2008.; Captain W. H. Smyth, R.N., Aedes Hartwellianae, or Notices of the Manor and Mansion of Hartwell (London: John Bowyer Nichols and Son), 1851-1864, including illustrations by Lady Lee.; The Peerage of England, Scotland and Ireland, Volume I (London: W. Owen), nd, p. 283.; Neil Jeffares, Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800, online edition, accessed pastellists.com

Notes: The presumed sitter of this portrait, Lady Elizabeth Harcourt, was the only daughter of Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt and his first wife Rebecca Le Bas of Pipewell Abbey. Her father was a member of the Royal Court, having served as Lord of Bedchamber to George II, Ambassador Extraordinary to Mecklenburg-Strelitz, to facilitate the engagement of Princess Charlotte and George III, and Lord Chamberlain of Queen's Household, among other numerous prestigious positions. He was to end his career as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. As befitting her father's position at court, Lady Elizabeth was one of only ten young ladies chosen to be a train bearer to Queen Charlotte at her wedding to George III in 1761. In 1763, Lady Elizabeth wed Sir William Lee, 4th Baronet Hartwell; of their three children, only two sons survived to adulthood.
The Harcourt family were patrons of the arts, and Lady Elizabeth and her brother received drawing lessons from Court painters; for several years they studied pastel under Sir George Knapton. She was considered an able and accomplished artist and her Portrait of George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan as a Boy, sold at Christie's London: the Althorp Attic Sale, July 8th, 2010, lot 456.
Sir George Knapton was a society painter closely associated with the Court of George III. He studied under Jonathan Richardson (1667-1745) and attended St. Martin's Lane Academy (the precursor of the Royal Academy) before embarking on a seven-year Grand Tour in Italy. While in Rome, he made the acquaintance of several wealthy young Englishmen, all scions of the wealthiest and most privileged aristocratic families. Upon their return to England, these men formed the infamous Society Dilettanti, a club ostensibly for the admiration and promotion of the arts and architecture. Knapton was one of the founding members and was made the official "limner" of the association. According to the Society's decree of January 1740, "Every member of the Society do make a present of his Picture done by Mr. Geo. Knapton a Member to be hung up in the Room where the said Society meets"; should a member be negligent in this, a formidable fine would result. Knapton maintained this position until his resignation in 1763, completing over twenty portraits. Later "limners" included Sir Joshua Reynolds and Sir Thomas Lawrence.
The Society afforded Knapton contact with some of the most influential members of the Royal Court, and in 1750 he was tasked by the then Prince of Wales to catalogue and document the paintings in the royal residences, including those conserved at Kensington Palace and Windsor Castle. Knapton was later named Surveyor of the King's Pictures, a tenure that lasted from 1765 until his death in 1778.
A portrait of Lady Elizabeth Harcourt attributed to George Knapton is in the collection of Sudbury Hall, Derbyshire. The resemblance of the Sudbury portrait and the one offered in this lot are striking; both sitters reveal a distinct physiognomy of high, prominent forehead, slender jawline, narrow shoulders and deeply sloping bosom.

The Harcourt Estate and Family Papers are conserved at the Bodleian Libraries Archive, University of Oxford and the Hartwell House Papers are held by the National Archives, Kew, Richmond.
Dimensions: 46.25 x 59.25 in
Condition Report: Overall very good professionally restored condition. A few whitish accretions at upper right. Scattered faint areas of abrading. Stretcher shadow along right edge. Scattered pinprick-sized areas of soiling/discoloration. Scratch at lower right. Inpainting: behind proper right ear, in dress, lower right corner, mid-left in background, scattered other small areas. Difficult for uv light to completely penetrate varnish layer. Painting has been relined. Overall craquelure. Layer of soiling.