喬治·羅姆尼

Presumably painted for William, Duke of Clarence, later King William IV
By whom given to his eldest son, George Fitzclarence, 1st Earl of Munster (1794-1842), son of the sitter, and thence by descent
Sale: Sotheby's, London, November 16, 1988, lot 68
Acquired at the above sale by A. Alfred Taubman

Brighton, Art Loan Exhibition, 1884, no. 237
London, Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood House, Mrs. Jordan: The Duchess of Drury Lane, 1995, no. 4, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Claire Tomalin, Mrs. Jordan’s Profession, The Story of a Great Actress and a Future King, London, 1994, illustrated following p. 320
Ian Dejardin, in Mrs. Jordan: The Duchess of Drury Lane (exhibition catalogue), Iveagh Bequest, London, 1995, p. 26, no. 4, illustrated
David A. Cross, A Striking Likeness: The Life of George Romney, Aldershot, 2000, p. 89;
Alex Kidson, George Romney, A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, New Haven and London, 2015, vol. II, p. 338, no. 737a, illustrated

The canvas appears to be either unlined or very thinly relined. Overall the figure itself is well preserved and presents a strong and very attractive image. The painting has been recently given a fresh varnish. The paint surface of the dress and flesh tones are well retained and there are only a few very small, cosmetic retouches on the dress and small ones on her nose and around mouth. There is larger area of retouching on the shadowed area of her dress at waistline to the right of the blue sash. The hair shows light strokes of retouching throughout and it may be that whatever pigment or glazes the artist used had become flattened over time and these restorations were to address this and to give it more form. Retouchings can also be seen throughout the background in architecture, sky and red drapery, again to enhance the detail in these areas and to make them read better. The painting can be hung in its present state, and we would not recommend further work.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Mrs. Jordan, born Dorothy Bland, was one of the most celebrated actresses of the 18^th century stage, and certainly the finest comic actress of her age.  Her early appearances were in Ireland with Richard Daly’s Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin.  In 1782 she joined Tate Wilkinson’s company in York, England.  As she was pregnant at the time (with Daly’s child), he gave her the stage name “Mrs. Jordan” to connote a degree of respectability.   Dorothy’s first appearance in London was at Drury Lane on 18 October 1785, as Peggy in David Garrick’s The Country Girl, a role that would become one of her most famous.  Though she appeared in tragic parts, she excelled at comedy and was particularly admired for her various “breeches roles” and comic tomboy characters such as Rosalind in As You Like It, Viola in Twelfth Night, and Hippolita in Cibber’s 1702 comedy She Would and She Would Not.  She was not only adored by audiences, but also much admired by her fellow theater professionals for both her skill and kind nature.  The writer and critic William Hazlitt observed “Her face, her tones, her manner, were irresistible.  Her smile had the effect of sunshine, and her laugh did one good to hear it.  Her voice was eloquence itself: it seemed as if her heart was always at her mouth.  She was all gaiety, openness and good nature” (The Collected Works of William Hazlitt, London, 1903, vol. 8, p. 252).  Dorothy had a long affair with Sir Richard Ford, a lawyer and police magistrate, whom she had hoped to marry and with whom she had three children.  However, when marriage was not forthcoming, Dorothy broke off with him in 1790 and became the mistress of the Duke of Clarence, later William IV.  Their liaison lasted more than twenty years and produced ten children, all of whom were given the surname Fitzclarence.  They settled into a happy domesticity living for many years at Bushy, an estate given to William by the King.  However, William eventually came under pressure to find a suitable wife and in 1811 broke off with Dorothy, a blow from which she never recovered.  She continued working, writing to her eldest son that “I begin to think that acting keeps me alive” (C. Tomalin, in Mrs. Jordan, The Duchess of Drury Lane, 1995, p. 12).  After she was defrauded by a son-in-law and badly in debt, she fled to France where she died, separated from family and friends, in 1816.

This portrait is an autograph replica of the one painted by Romney in 1786-87 which was probably done as a publicity venture and was engraved by John Ogborne, initially with the title The Romp and subsequently as The Country Girl.  Indeed, the portrait depicts Mrs. Jordan in a conflation of two of her well-known roles:  she is shown in the attitude of her portrayal of Priscilla Tomboy in The Romp, but wears her costume for Peggy in The Country Girl.  The circumstances of this are told by Sir Henry Russell in his memoirs who, as a child, sat to Romney during the same period: “I recollect hearing Romney describe her as she came to sit for him for her picture.  For some time they could hit upon no attitude that pleased them both; whatever one proposed, the other rejected.  At last, Mrs.  Jordan, pretending to be tired and to be going away, sprang out of her chair and putting herself into an attitude, and using an expression belonging to her popular part in The Romp, she said, ‘well, I’m a-going.’  Romney instantly exclaimed ‘That will do!’ and in that attitude and uttering that expression, he painted her" (A. Kidson, op.cit., pp. 337-38).  The first version remained in Romney’s studio until it was purchased in 1791 by the actress’s new lover the Duke of Clarence and is now in the Rothschild Collection, Waddesdon Manor.  The present version was probably commissioned from Romney by the Duke after he had acquired the first portrait, and he eventually gave it to their eldest son, George Fitzclarence, 1st Earl of Munster (1794-1842).  Two other versions of the portrait are known (currently untraced), but are not now accepted as autograph (A. Kidson, op.cit., pp. 338-39, nos. 737b and 737c).