Allan Ramsay (Edinburgh 1713-1784 Dover)

The sitter was the daughter of Robert Craigie (1688-1760) of Glendoick, and his wife Barbara. She married Colonel Robert Douglas (1716-1803) of Strathendry. Ramsay painted portraits of the sitter's father (1744; Edinburgh, Scottish National Portrait Gallery) and her sister Anne (1750; private collection). Although painted four years later, this portrait was clearly intended as a natural pendant to that of her sister, who is depicted in a similar 'van Dyck' satin dress but with blue bows (see A. Smart, Allan Ramsay, A Complete Catalogue of his Paintings, J. Ingamells, ed., New Haven and London, 1999, p. 96, no. 109, fig. 348).