GEORGE ROMNEY (DALTON-IN-FURNESS, LANCASHIRE 1734-1802 KENDAL, CUMBRIA)

Alicia, Lady Wedderburn, was the second daughter of James Dundas of Dundas (1721-1780) and his wife, Jean Maria (after 1720-1774). In December 1780, she married John Wedderburn of Balindean (1729-1803), who styled himself as Sir John Wedderburn, 6th Baronet, although his father, personal guard to Bonnie Prince Charlie, had been stripped of the baronetcy. Just a month after her marriage, Lady Wedderburn sat for George Romney six times between 31 January and 22 February 1781. By this time, his portraits were ‘in great vogue’, according to Horace Walpole, and he had become the third most important portrait painter in London after Reynolds and Gainsborough (H. Gatty, 'Notes by Horace Walpole', Walpole Society, XXVII, 1938-1939, pp. 76-77). His canvases from this period display a marked sensitivity to the surface qualities of skin, hair and fabric and an interest in capturing youth and beauty in paint.