Hester, Countess of Sussex, and Her Daughter, Lady Barbara Yelverton

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Hester, Countess of Sussex, and Her Daughter, Lady Barbara Yelverton

Artist Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727-1788)

Place of OriginEngland

Date1771

DimensionsPainting: 89 1/4 × 60 1/4 in. (226.7 × 153 cm)
Frame: 104 × 74 3/4 × 4 1/4 in. (264.2 × 189.9 × 10.8 cm)

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased 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

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 27

Label TextFirst exhibited in 1771 at the Royal Academy in London, this rare double portrait by Thomas Gainsborough was painted in the fashionable resort town of Bath. 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 three elder daughters. She sits before a tree, one hand to her cheek, the other clasping a barely visible broad-brimmed hat. Her only child, Barbara (1760–1781), stands beside her. The girl’s youth—about 10 or 11—is emphasized by the sprig in her hand and her dress of white muslin. The blue ribbons decorating her dress and bonnet 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 Edward Thoroton Gould, who had served only months previously in the British army at the Battles of Lexington and Concord during the American Revolution. The elopement provoked Barbara’s parents to disinherit her. She would have three children and die prior to her 21st birthday.Published ReferencesG.W. Fulcher, Life of Thomas Gainsborough, R.A., London, 1856, pp. 79, 182.

W. Armstrong, Gainsborough and His Place in English Art, London, 1898, pp. 119, 202, repr. opp. p. 36, (1904 ed, p. 280, repr.).

J. Greig and M. Menpes, Gainsborough, London, 1909, pp. 80-1.

W.T. Whitley, Thomas Gainsborough, London, 1915, p. 77.

E.K. Waterhouse, "Preliminary Checklist of Portraits by Thomas Gainsborough," Walpole Society, XXXIII, p. 102.

E.K. Waterhouse, Gainsborough, 1958, p. 91, no. 644, p. 291, pl. 128.

R.J.B. Walker, "New Portraits at Number Ten," Country Life, June 15, 1972, p. 1534, fig. 2.

Gustafson, Eleanor H., "Museum accessions," Antiques, vol. 127, no. 6, June 1985, p. 1300, repr.

"La Chronique des Arts," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 105, no. 1394, Mar. 1985, repr. p. 38.

Belsey, Hugh, "A visit to the studios of Gainsborough and Hoare," Burlington, vol. 129, no. 1007, Feb. 1987, p. 108, n. 15.

Cole, Elizabeth and Claire Schaefer, "Can young children be art critics?," Young Children, vol. 45, no.2, Jan. 1990, p. 38-39, repr. p. 33 (col.).

Reich, Paula, Toledo Museum of Art: Map and Guide, London, Scala, 2005, p. 29, repr. (col.)

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 213, repr. (col.).

Reich, Paula, Toledo Museum of Art: Map and Guide, London, Scala, 2009, p. 29, repr. (col.)

Belsey, Hugh, Thomas Gainsborough: The Portraits, Fancy Pictures and Copies After Old Masters, Volume 2, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2019, p. 793, repr. 794.

Exhibition HistoryLondon, Royal Academy, Annual Exhibition, 1771, no. 74.

London, British Institution, 1862, no. 194.

Derby, 1870, no. 311.

London, Royal Academy, Old Masters, 1871, no. 102.

London, Grovesnor Gallery, Gainsborough, 1885, no. 35.

London, Agnew, 1919, no. 6.

London, Royal Academy, British Art, 1934, no. 198 (Commemorative Catalogue, 1935, no. 191, pl. LIX).

London, 45 Park Lane, Gainsborough, 1936, no. 131.

Birmingham, Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, 1963-1972.

London, 10 Downing Street and Marlborough House, 1972 - c. 1980.

Paris, Grand Palais, Thomas Gainsborough, 1981, no. 38, repr. (cat. by John Hayes).

Edinburgh, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Treasures of Fyvie, 1985, p. 37. repr. (b&w) p. 36.