James Ward R.A. 1769-1859

The Hon. Juliana Talbot was the daughter of Charles Talbot, the younger brother of George, 14th Earl of Shrewsbury, by his second wife, Mary, daughter of Sir George Mostyn, 4th Bt. of Talacre. Juliana's brother, Charles, succeeded as the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, and in 1784 Juliana married Michael Bryan (1757-1821), a dealer and an art historian, and an early patron of James Ward.

The present picture was painted in the late 1790's when Ward was keen to establish his reputation as a painter of large scale oils.Bryan had a fine collection of old master pictures and Ward's introduction to the family proved a revelation to the artist. Ward wrote in his memoirs: 'At this period I was introduced to Mr. Bryan, whose wife was the sister to Charles, 15th Earl of Shrewsbury; the former dealt largely in pictures and at his house I saw the finest works of the old masters. He engaged me to engrave the Cornelius after Rembrandt, the Diana after Rubens, with several others; and to paint a large picture containing himself, Mrs Bryan and children, life size.' (C.R. Grundy, James Ward R.A., 1909, p. 27)

The family portrait, which Ward mentions was acquired by the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, and the composition of the present picture, is adapted from the lefthand side of the Laing Gallery portrait.

Juliana Talbot met Michael Bryan when he was studying art in Europe, and by 1790 Bryan had built up a reputation as an authority on painting. In 1790 he negotiated the sale of the Italian and French pictures from the Orleans Collection to the Duke of Bridgewater, and a fellow dealer, William Buchanan, described himself as an 'exceedingly good judge of works of all the Flemish and Dutch masters.' Bryan was one of Ward's earliest patrons and one of the first to recognise his ability as an artist. The present picture can be regarded as a testament to this early conviction.