Lady Henrietta Antonia Herbert, later Countess of Powis (1758-1830)
Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA (Plympton 1723 - London 1792)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1777
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1403 x 1123 mm (55¼ x 44¼ in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Powis Castle and Garden, Powys
NT 1181064
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Lady Henrietta Herbert, later Countess of Powis (1758-1830) by Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA (Plympton 1723 - London 1792), 1777. A three-quarter-length portrait of Henrietta Herbert, the daughter of Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Powis (2nd creation), and later the wife of Edward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis (3rd creation), standing, turned to face the viewer, wearing a voluminous ivory satin dress. Against a landscape background, with a small cascade in the middle distance. Published in a mezzotint by Valentine Green, London, 1778 (British Museum, London, no. 1841,0809.107). The mezzotint shows that the original portrait was later adapted, a sheer scarf and a blue broad-rimmed hat added to conceal an earlier hairstyle, in which the hair was piled high upon the crown.
Provenance
Painted in 1777, before the sitter’s marriage to the 2nd Lord Clive, later 1st Earl of Powis; from whom, by descent, until 1963. Recorded at Walcot Hall in Montgomery Collections Vol VI P.148 in 1873. Accepted by HM Treasury on 21st March, 1963 in lieu of tax and conveyed to National Trust ownership in 1992.
Credit line
Powis Castle, The Powis Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA (Plympton 1723 - London 1792), artist
References
Pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, French, and Deceased English Masters (exh cat) British Institution, London, June 1844, no.138 The Second Special Exhibition of National Portraits, Commencing with the Reign of William and Mary and Ending with the Year MDCCC (Exh Cat) South Kensington Museum, London, 1 May - 31 August 1867, no.697 National Exhibition of Works of Art (exh cat) Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds, 19 May - 31 October 1868, no.1051 The Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A. with Historical Notes (exh cat) (Frederic George Stephens) Grosvenor Gallery, 31 December 1883 - 29 March 1884, no.50 Graves and Cronin 1899-1901 Algernon Graves and W.V.Cronin, A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 4 vols, London 1899-1901, II, p.460 Armstrong 1900 Sir Walter Armstrong, Sir Joshua Reynolds, First President of the Royal Academy, 1900, p.212 Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters and Deceased Masters of the British School (exh cat) Royal Academy, London, 5 January - 14 March 1903, no.30 Exposition de cent portraits de femmes des écoles anglaise et française du XVIIIe siècle (exh cat) Salle du Jeu de Paume, Paris, 23 April - 1 July 1909, no.37 Waterhouse 1941 Ellis K. Waterhouse, Reynolds, London, 1941, p.68 Steegman 1957 John Steegman, A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses, Vol.I: North Wales, Cardiff, 1957, no.60, pl.45B Works of Art from Private Collections in the North West of England and North Wales (exh cat) City Art Gallery, Manchester, 2 September - 30 October 1960, no.148 Mannings 2000: David Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds: A Complete Catalogue of his Paintings. The Subject Pictures catalogued by Martin Postle, New Haven & London 2000, pp.253-54, no.889 Chu 2018 John Chu, House of Portraits: Powis Castle, Swindon, 2018, pp.14-15
