Sarah Delaval, Countess of Tyrconnel (1763 - 1800) with a White Peahen, in a Landscape
attributed to Edward Alcock (fl.1745 - 1778)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1775 - 1778
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
914 x 559 mm (36 x 22 in)
Order this imageCollection
Seaton Delaval Hall, Northumberland
NT 1276772
Caption
The frame tablet on this portrait identifies the sitter as Sarah Delaval (1738 – 1831), but comparison with a similar picture in a private collection has shown that she is, in fact, from the next generation of Delavals. This Sarah was the niece of the former, and daughter of John, Lord Delaval. She was beautiful, strong-willed and captivating. She married George Carpenter, 2nd Earl Tyrconnel, but embarked upon intense, long-standing affairs with Frederick, Duke of York, and later Lord Strathmore. On her death, Strathmore embarked upon an affair with Sarah’s nineteen year-old daughter. The artist was probably the Alcock living and working in Bath in 1757. In 1759/60 he was living at Birmingham, and by 1778 he was in London 1778. His signed and dated portraits range from 1762 to 1774, including neat, small full-lengths in the style of Devis.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Sarah Delaval, Countess of Tyrconnel (1763 - 1800) with a White Peacock in a Landscape, attributed to Edward Alcock (fl.1745 - 1778). Full-length, standing, wearing a yellow, blue and white robe, holding her skirt (filled with blooms) in her left hand, and picking flowers from a bush with the other; a white peahen bottom left, a pillar background left, drapery top and left, and beyond a landscape with a statue of the Sleeping Cupid.
Full description
Youngest and favourite daughter of Sir John Hussey Delaval and Susanna Robinson. Beautiful, strong-willed and captivating – notably to Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, the second son of George III. She was hastily married off to George Carpenter, 2nd Earl Tyrconnel (1750 – 1805) on 3rd June 1780, and they honeymooned at Doddington, where they reportedly played ‘blind man’s buff’ [!] She bore him two children, the first of which died in 1790, and her daughter Susan, later marrying the Marquess of Waterford. By 1787 Sarah and the Duke of York were lovers, and he bought a house, Oatlands, in order to be close to her country estate, Claremont, which had been bought by her father. The Duke married Princess Frederika of Prussia, and their affair dwindled, and by 1791, Sarah had embarked on an intense affair with Lord Strathmore, who had been smitten by her performance in The Fair Penitent at Seaton Delaval. In 1792 he bought Claremont Lodge, only a mile away from Claremont House, but when they were in the North, he and Sarah lived openly at Gibside, where she died on 7th October 1800, after a long illness. Her obituary, written by her father, stated that she had died at Seaton Delaval, although The Gentleman’s Magazine pointed out that she had actually died at the seat of her lover. Strathmore gave her a lavish funeral, and she was buried at Westminster Abbey. Strathmore embarked upon an affair with Sarah’s 19 year old daughter, whom he wished to marry, but the match was prohibited by her father The attribution was suggested by Anthony Mould. The artist was probably the Alcock living and working in Bath in 1757. In 1759/60 he was living at Birmingham, and by 1778 he was in London 1778. He must be the Alcock (no initial) who exhibited small portraits and genre pictures at the RA in 1778. His signed and dated portraits range from 1762 to 1774, including neat, small full-lengths in the style of Devis. A larger and better-quality version in a private collection, which in pose and setting corresponds to this version exactly, is inscribed with the name of the sitter. The present picture would appear to be a reduced, possibly autograph, replica of that. The re-identification of the sitter derives from the inscription on this picture, which is much earlier, and so more reliable than the 20th century tablet.
Provenance
accepted in lieu of tax by H.M. Treasury and transferred to the National Trust in 2009.
Marks and inscriptions
Frame tablet: SARAH DELAVAL, b.1738 d.1831 daughter of / Capt. Francis Blake Delaval R.N. and / wife of John 1st Earl of Mexborough. / TILLY KETTLE
Makers and roles
attributed to Edward Alcock (fl.1745 - 1778), artist previously catalogued as attributed to Tilly Kettle (1735 - Aleppo 1786), artist previously catalogued as attributed to William Bell (c.1735 - 1794), artist Hugh Barron (London c.1747 – London 1791), artist