Hester, Countess of Sussex, and Her Daughter, Lady Barbara Yelverton
Artist: Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727-1788)
Date: 1771
Dimensions:
89 1/4 x 60 1/4 in. (226.7 x 153 cm)
Medium: oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, and with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott
Object number: 1984.20
Label Text:First exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, this rare double portrait by Thomas Gainsborough was painted in the fashionable resort town of Bath, England. It depicts the wife and daughter of Henry Yelverton, Earl of Sussex. Hester (1728–1777) had held the position of Lady of the Bedchamber to King George II’s daughters. She sits in a natural landscape, one hand clasping a broad-brimmed hat. Her only child, Barbara (1760–1781), stands beside her. The girl’s youth—about 10 or 11—is emphasized by the white violets she holds (symbolizing innocence) and her dress of white muslin. Her blue ribbons are artfully echoed by the bow in her mother’s powdered hair.
With poetic grace Gainsborough conveys the bond between mother and daughter. The tenderness of the relationship makes the ensuing estrangement between them all the more tragic. At age 15 Barbara eloped with British soldier Edward Thoroton Gould, who had served only months previously at the Battles of Lexington and Concord during the American Revolution. The marriage provoked Barbara’s parents to disinherit her. Her mother died not long after, and Barbara died a few years later, prior to her 21st birthday.
With poetic grace Gainsborough conveys the bond between mother and daughter. The tenderness of the relationship makes the ensuing estrangement between them all the more tragic. At age 15 Barbara eloped with British soldier Edward Thoroton Gould, who had served only months previously at the Battles of Lexington and Concord during the American Revolution. The marriage provoked Barbara’s parents to disinherit her. Her mother died not long after, and Barbara died a few years later, prior to her 21st birthday.
On view
In Collection(s)