Live Auction 20027Jasper Conran: The Collection Part I
CIRCLE OF JOHN VANDERBANK (LONDON 1694-1739)
Lot 77

CIRCLE OF JOHN VANDERBANK (LONDON 1694-1739)

Portrait of Lady Lucy Montagu, Countess of Guilford (1709-1734), three-quarter-length, in a black dress and plumed cap

Closed14 September 2021

Price Realised

GBP 10,000

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CIRCLE OF JOHN VANDERBANK (LONDON 1694-1739)
Portrait of Lady Lucy Montagu, Countess of Guilford (1709-1734), three-quarter-length, in a black dress and plumed cap
oil on canvas
50 1/8 x 40 in. (127.3 x 101.7 cm.)
with identifying inscription 'LADY NORTH & GUILDFORD' (lower right), in an eighteenth-century carved and gilded over-mantel frame

The Earls of Guilford at Glemham Hall and then Waldershare Park, inv. no. 140, and by descent to the following,
Anonymous sale [The Property of a Lady of Title]; Christie's, South Kensington, 11 July 2008, lot 56.
with Edward Hurst, Salisbury, from whom acquired by the present owner.

Specialist note


The sitter was the daughter of George Montagu, Earl of Halifax, and first wife of Francis, 7th Lord North and 3rd Lord Guilford, later 1st Earl of Guilford. She had two children; Frederick Lord North, who went on to be Prime Minister to King George III, and Louisa. Tragically, she died shortly after her daughter's birth and her husband was so upset by her death that he couldn't stand living with the young baby and gave her up for adoption. Lucy, Countess of Guilford was painted in three-quarter length by Sir Godfrey Kneller (sold Christie's London, 25 October 1968, lot 21) and full-length by Enoch Seeman (in a private collection). There is also an unattributed portrait of oval format in a private collection which appears to have been based on the present portrait, as she wears the same dress and plumed cap.