Elizabeth Davers, Countess of Bristol (1730-1800) and her Daughter Lady Louisa Theodosia Hervey, later Countess of Liverpool (1770-1821)
Antonio de Bittio (1722 - 1797)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1773
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1264 x 1019 mm (49 ¾ x 40 ⅛ in)
Order this imageCollection
Ickworth, Suffolk
NT 851829.2
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Elizabeth Davers, Countess of Bristol (1730-1800) and her Daughter Lady Louisa Theodosia Hervey, later Countess of Liverpool (1770-1821) by Antonio de Bittio (1722-1797), circa 1773. (Formerly signed by the artist on the book-mark: Ano de Bittio P t, according to the annotated separatum of Appendices 15 and 16 from S.H.A.Hervey’s edition of the Diary of John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol (1894), formerly in family possession at Ickworth but now in the Curator of Pictures and Sculpture’s library at Queen Anne’s Gate; but the signature was removed by an unscrupulous dealer sometime between 1964 and 1986. The form of the removed signature is preserved in Dorofield Hardy’s copy of the picture (NT 851229.1) bookmark is annotated 'Au de Bittie Px'. The mother is seated on a red upholstered chair with moulded wooden frame. She has short, straight brown hair, and is wearing a lace headdress tied below her chin, and a long green dress with matching ribbon edging and long lace cuffs from the elbows. The child has short brown hair and is wearing a whitish cap edged with lace and with a red bow in the centre. She has a white bodice with a red sash and brown skirt. Both are pointing to an open book resting on the mother's knees. Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Jermyn Davers, 4th Bt., of Rushbrooke Hall, married the future 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry (1730-1803) in 1752, and lived in amnity with him for three decades, but quarrelled with her husband during a carriage-ride from Ickworth, after which they never spoke to one another again, and separated in 1782. The Earl-Bishop travelled and collected more furiously than ever, and Lady Bristol retired to live at Ickworth with her two youngest children, Frederick and Louisa. Louisa married the future 2nd Earl of Liverpool in 1795.
Provenance
Painted in Ireland, circa 1773 (the date recorded on one of the two drawings of the children in the full conversation-piece, of which this repeats a detail), presumably as a repetition for the Countess’s brother at Rushbrooke, where it was recorded by S. H. A. Hervey in 1894. It was again listed there by Farrer in 1908 (no.24, unattributed). It can also be seen in a view of the staircase at Rushbrooke, reproduced by William S. Childe Pemberton, The Earl Bishop, London, 1924, vol.I, opp.p.42, and in its own right, vol.I, opp.p.100. It was in a group of pictures from Rushbrooke Hall (not declared as such) auctioned at Christie’s, 31 July 1964, lot 5, as signed by A. de Bittio (bought by Dent for 110 guineas), and again on 18 April 1986, lot 110, as by Nathaniel Dance [?] (hammer price, £5,940). It was finally acquired by the National Trust at Phillips, 6 June 1989, lot 42 (once more as by Dance, for a bid of £4,500). Originally at Rushbrooke Hall and then at Ickworth; sold in 1964; subsequently the signature removed. Put up for auction in 1986 as by Nathaniel Dance; bought by the National Trust at Phillips, in 1989
Credit line
Ickworth, The Bristol Collection (acquired through the National Land Fund and transferred to The National Trust in 1956)
Makers and roles
Antonio de Bittio (1722 - 1797) previously catalogued as attributed to Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, RA (London 1735 - Winchester 1811), artist