George Romney

Portrait of Frances Alicia Bennet (b. 1749), half-length

Lot Closed

January 30, 05:37 PM GMT

Estimate

30,000 - 50,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Property from an American Private Collection

George Romney

Dalton 1734 - 1802 Kendal

Portrait of Frances Alicia Bennet (b. 1749), half-length

oil on canvas

canvas: 30 by 25 in.; 76 by 63.5 cm.

framed: 41 by 36 in.; 104.1 by 91.4 cm.

The sitter, and by descent to Mrs. Benson, Lesketh How, Ambleside;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 14 June 1902, lot 102 (bt. Alexander for £945);
Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Sibley, Rochester, NY;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

G. Paston, George Romney, London 1903, p. 184;
H. Ward and W. Roberts, Romney: A Biographical and Critical Essay with a Catalogue Raisonné of his Works, London/New York 1904, volume II, p. 10 (as "Lady Frances Alicia Benson");
A. Kidson, George Romney: A complete catalogue of his paintings, New Haven/London 2015, vol. I, p. 64, no. 79, reproduced in color.

The elegant young woman seen here in three-quarter profile with her hair upswept is Lady Frances Alicia Bennet, the second daughter of Charles, 3rd Earl of Tankerville, and Alicia Astley. Her aristocratic status is evident from her fine yellow silk dress and red ermine-trimmed cloak. Lady Bennet was later married three times, to William Aslong in 1776 (d. 1780), with whom she had two children, to Rev. R. Sandys in 1781, with whom she had one child, and to Rev. E. Benson in 1783. Although this portrait has traditionally been called "Lady Frances Alicia Benson," which was the sitter's married name with her third husband, based on the age of the sitter and style of the portrait, it was certainly painted well before her first marriage. Kidson dates the picture to the late 1760s on the basis of style and believes it is one of the first, if not the very first, commissions Romney received from the aristocracy.¹ The success of this portrait may have resulted in Romney winning the commission to paint Lady Bennet's aunt, Lady Vincent, and her husband, in the early 1770s.

^1.See Kidson 2015, vol. I, p. 64.