Ada Christina Lucy, Lady Ramsay-Fairfax-Lucy (1866 – 1943) and her Eldest Son William George Thomas Spencer Fairfax-Lucy (1895-1910)
George Harcourt RA (Dumbarton 1868 – Bushey 1947)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1896 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1118 x 1410 mm (44 x 55 1/2 in)
Order this imageCollection
Charlecote Park, Warwickshire
NT 533856
Caption
This portrait manages to capture both tenderness, as well as inquisitiveness, as the child reaches out towards the rose held by his mother. Ada Christina Lucy inherited Charlecote, where this picture remains, from her father, being the eldest of four daughters. Her eldest son, William, who is shown here, died young, whilst at Eton. Ada had reluctantly married Sir Henry Ramsay-Fairfax, 3rd Bt. (1870-1944), and hyphenated her own name with his. She endured ten pregnancies and the anguish of having to sell more and more of the estate to pay the bills. She kept most of the great interiors under dust-sheets, determined that one day ‘the good times will come back.’ They never did, and when their son, Sir Montgomerie Fairfax-Lucy, 4th Bt. (1896-1965) inherited Charlecote, he presented it to the National Trust.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Ada Christina Lucy, Lady Ramsay-Fairfax-Lucy (1866 – 1943) and her eldest son William George Thomas Spencer Fairfax-Lucy (1895-1910) by George Harcourt RA (Dumbarton 1868 – Bushey 1947), signed and dated in the bottom right corner: Geo Harcourt ..96. They are both seated in a garden. Ada is wearing a long white dress with a peach sash around her waist. Her dark hair is tied up in a bun and she has a gold bracelet on her right wrist. She is holding a pink rose in her right hand. She is looking at her infant son who is sitting on her knee. William is wearing a white dress with blue detailing and a blue sash around his waist. He is holding green foliage in his left hand with his right hand reaching for the rose held by his mother. Framed in large rectangular giltwood frame, plain leaf pattern to border. Ada Christina Lucy, Lady Ramsay-Fairfax-Lucy (1866 – 1943) married Sir Henry Cameron Ramsey-Fairfax in 1892. As the eldest of four daughters, inherited Charlecote Park in 1890. She had seven children. William George Thomas Spencer Fairfax-Lucy (1895-1910) was Ada Christina’s eldest son who died, age 15, whilst at school at Eton in 1910.
Provenance
Presented to the National Trust by Sir Montgomerie Fairfax-Lucy (1896 – 1965), two years after the death of his father, Sir Henry Ramsay-Fairfax, 3rd Bt (1870 – 1944), with Charlecote Park and its chief contents, in 1946
Marks and inscriptions
Bottom right corner: Signed and dated 'Geo Harcourt..96'
Makers and roles
George Harcourt RA (Dumbarton 1868 – Bushey 1947), artist