John Hoppner, R.A. London 1758-1810

Commissioned by John Hookham Frere, brother of the sitter;
John Hoppner sale, London, Christie's, May 31, 1823, lot 20,  where acquired by Thomas Phillips, R.A.;
Thence by descent to his son, Henry Wyndham Phillips;
Anna Orde, daughter of the sitter, who died in 1894;
Thence by descent to her niece, Beatrice, Lady Orde, who died in 1895;
Thence by descent to her daughter, Beatrice Catherine Orde, who died in 1921;
With A. Amor, London;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, June 16, 1961, lot 105, where acquired by Leger Galleries;
With Leger Galleries;
From whom purchased by the present owner in 1963.

The sitter was the eldest daughter of John Frere, Esq. of Roydon, Norfolk. She was born in 1773 and married, as his second wife, Admiral Sir John Orde, Bart., on December 3, 1793. She died September 16, 1829.

This painting was a commission from Lady Orde's brother, J. Hookham Frere, probably while he was Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 1799.  The portrait was never collected by him (only the first payment was made) and it appeared in the Hoppner sale in 1823 (see Provenance).  It was purchased in that sale by the artist Thomas Philipps, R.A. and left to his son, also a painter, Henry Wyndham Phillips.  While painting the portrait of H. Bartle Frere (afterwards Sir Henry) in 1856, Philipps mentioned to his sitter that he owned a portrait of Lady Orde.  The family purchased the portrait from Phillips and it remained in their possession for several generations.