Margaret Bradshaw, Mrs George Farington (d. 1771)
attributed to Edward Penny, RA (Knutsford 1714 – Chiswick 1791)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1742 - 1748
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
570 x 405 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Rufford Old Hall, Lancashire
NT 783194
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Margaret Bradshaw, Mrs George Farington (d.1771), attributed to Edward Penny, RA (Knutsford 1714 - Chiswick 1791), dated 1742 in the inscription, which is partly covered by the frame and reads 'Margt the Daugh. & Sole heiress of John Bradshaw Esqr. of Pennington, Wife of Geog. Farington Esqr d1742', and inscribed on the back 1748. A painted oval half-length portrait of a woman, facing, head slightly inclined to the left gazing at the spectator, dressed in black with ermine collar and black head-dress. The artist studied with Hudson and then in Italy, returning in 1743 and making a name for himself in London by 1748. The sitter was a daughter and heiress of John Bradshaw of Pennington, and widow of George Farington of Worden (d.1742). She may have been the mistress of Sir Thomas Hesketh, 1st Bt (1727 - 1778); see the pair to this portrait, of Sir Thomas, NT 783193.
Provenance
By descent in the Farington family of Worden Hall, Lancashire; purchased by Major the Hon. John Breckinridge Fermor-Hesketh at the sale of the contents of Worden Hall in 1948 and thence by descent, on loan to the National Trust at Rufford Old Hall; purchased by the National Trust from the executors of the estate of Mrs J.I. Robinson, with the assistance of grants and donations from the V&A Purchase Grant Fund, the J.P. Jacobs Charitable Trust and the National Trust Centres and Associations, North West Region, 2012.
Marks and inscriptions
Top left: Margt the Daugh. & Sole heiress of / John Bradshaw Esqr. of Pennington, / Wife of Geog. Farington Esqr. d1742. Back of canvas: 1748
Makers and roles
attributed to Edward Penny, RA (Knutsford 1714 – Chiswick 1791), artist