Jocosa Katerina Drury, Lady Cust (1748/9-1772) and her Niece Lady Caroline Hobart, later Lady Suffield (1767-1850)
Benjamin West (Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 1738 - London 1820)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1770
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
2210 x 1600 mm (87 x 63 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Blickling Hall, Norfolk
NT 355489
Caption
The sitters in the portrait have been identified by an inscription on another version of the picture, which is at Belton. Belton was the seat of Sir Brownlow Cust (later Lord Brownlow), who married Jocosa, who is depicted here. Her niece, Caroline, was the second daughter of her sister, Mary Anne (1740-69), who married the 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire in 1761. Caroline later became the wife of the 2nd Lord Suffield. Her sister, Harriet, married the Marquess of Lothian as her second husband, which is how this picture came to Blickling. What is perhaps surprising is this display of tenderness shown by an aunt for her niece, behaviour perhaps more traditionally shown in representations of mothers and children.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas. Jocosa Katerina Drury, Lady Cust (1748/9-1772) and her Niece Lady Caroline Hobart, later Lady Suffield (1767-1850) by Benjamin West PRA (Swarthmore 1738 - London 1820), circa 1770. Two full-length figures, Lady Cust is seated on a bed with the sleeping Caroline. She wears a white dress and silver slippers; right hand raised in attitude saying hush; green, blue, apricot draperies. Another version of the picture is at Belton House, NT 438063.
Provenance
Bequeathed with the hall and contents by Philip,11th Marquess of Lothian (1882-1940)
Credit line
Blickling Hall, The Lothian Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Benjamin West (Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 1738 - London 1820), artist