JOHN SMART (BRITISH, 1742/1743-1811)

Elizabeth Bridget Armitstead née Cane (1750-1842) was an actress and courtesan, famously becoming the mistress of George, Prince of Wales in 1781. In 1795, she secretly married Charles James Fox (1749-1806), see lot 161, but the marriage was not made public until 1802, when she was received as Fox's wife by Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte, in Paris. She and Fox lived together at St Anne's Hill, near Chertsey, Surrey. She outlived her husband by thirty-six years.
A preparatory sketch of 'Mrs Armstead, in flowered muslin dress' from the collection of W. H. Bose, Esq, great-grandson of the artist, was sold Christie's, London, 15 February 1937, lot 27 (part lot, 20 gns. to Spink).