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Lot Essay
This elegant portrait of Mary Brummell was painted circa 1772 at the height of the artist’s career. Nathaniel Dance-Holland was by then a renowned portraitist, having studied for three years in Rome under Pompeo Girolamo Batoni, before returning to England in 1765, where he established himself as one of the preeminent painters of Georgian London. Here, Dance-Holland has depicted his sitter in an Italianate landscape reminiscent of the familiar Roman campagna. She wears white silk fantasy garment, combining the floating robes of a wood nymph with the gold-trimmed dresses and pastel-hued sashes that were at the height of fashion in the 1770s.
Mary Brummell was the daughter of the Keeper of the Lottery Office and a celebrated beauty. In 1772 she married William Brummell (d. 1794), then private secretary to Lord North, Prime Minister from 1770 to 1782. This portrait may have been commissioned in celebration of their marriage, and the decision to engage Dance-Holland to capture her likeness was probably influenced by the fact that North was sitting to the artist at around that time (National Portrait Gallery, London). William and Mary Brummel would have three children, Maria, William and George ‘Beau’ Brummell (1778-1840), a famed wit and close friend of the Prince of Wales.
Mary Brummell was the daughter of the Keeper of the Lottery Office and a celebrated beauty. In 1772 she married William Brummell (d. 1794), then private secretary to Lord North, Prime Minister from 1770 to 1782. This portrait may have been commissioned in celebration of their marriage, and the decision to engage Dance-Holland to capture her likeness was probably influenced by the fact that North was sitting to the artist at around that time (National Portrait Gallery, London). William and Mary Brummel would have three children, Maria, William and George ‘Beau’ Brummell (1778-1840), a famed wit and close friend of the Prince of Wales.