John Ivory Talbot (1687-1772)
Michael Dahl (Stockholm 1659 - London 1743)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1720 - 1743
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1245 x 991 mm (49 x 39 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Lacock, Wiltshire
NT 996325
Caption
Son of Anne Talbot (1665 – 1720) and Sir John Ivory (1655 – 1695), John succeeded his grandfather, Sir John Talbot (1630 – 1714), at Lacock, and changed his name to Talbot to acknowledge the source of his good fortune. He married Mary, daughter of 3rd Lord Mansel of Margam, whose behaviour is said to have driven him to drink. He is most famous for transforming Lacock, beginning by remodelling the Dining Room in a classical style, but in 1753 he was introduced to the architect Sanderson Miller, a pioneering advocate of the new Gothick style. There is a cut-down copy of this picture in the Dining Room at Lacock. Michael Dahl was born in Stockholm, but settled in London in 1689. He was one of the most successful portrait painters of the era.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, John Ivory Talbot (1687-1772), by Michael Dahl (Stockholm 1656/9 – London 1743). A three-quarter-length portrait, facing, left hand on hip, hat in right, wearing blue coat, yellow waistcoat and white stock, in an architectural setting.
Full description
Son of Anne Talbot (1665 – 1720) and Sir John Ivory (1655 – 1695), he succeeded his grandfather, Sir John Talbot (1630 – 1714), at Lacock, and changed his name to Talbot to acknowledge the source of his good fortune. He married Mary, daughter of 1st Baron Mansel of Margam, whose behaviour is said to have driven him to drink. She bore him four issue: John Talbot, who succeeded to Lacock; Martha Talbot; Ann Talbot (born 1723 at Bristol and buried at Lacock in 1752) and Thomas Talbot. There remained close links for several generations between the Talbots of Lacock and their Welsh cousins at Margam, who gave their name to the docks at Port Talbot. John Ivory was MP for various boroughs, but is most famous for transforming Lacock, beginning by remodelling the Dining Room in a classical style, but in 1753 he was introduced to the architect Sanderson Miller, a pioneering advocate of the new Gothick style. He designed a new approach to Lacock through a Gothick arch and rebuilt the abbey’s west front around a Gothick hall. P/11 is a copy of the present picture; there is also a portrait, of circa 1740, in the collection of Lady Blythswood, Penrice Castle (1958), in which he looks a little older than the present picture.
Provenance
Given by Matilda Theresa Talbot (formerly Gilchrist-Clark) (1871 – 1958), who gave the Abbey, the village of Lacock and the rest of the estate to the National Trust in 1944, along with 96 of the family portraits and other pictures, in 1948
Credit line
Lacock Abbey, The Talbot Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Michael Dahl (Stockholm 1659 - London 1743), artist
References
Hawkes 2015, Will Hawkes, 'Sanderson Miller at Lacock Abbey in National Trust Historic House & Collections Annual (Apollo) 2015, pp. 34 - 43, fig. 2