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Description
Studio of Sir Godfrey Kneller (British, 1646-1723) Portrait of Martha Lovelace (1667-1745) later Baroness Wentworth, head and shoulders, in a blue dress and pink cloak oil on canvas, oval 74 x 60cm (29 x 23in)Other Notes: The sitter has been identified as Martha Lovelace, 8th Baroness Wentworth (1667–1745) daughter and heiress of MP and bon viveur John Lovelace, 3rd Baron Lovelace, and the second wife of Henry Johnson, MP. She lived at The Gate House, Blackwall, Middlesex, became 8th Baroness Wentworth and died in 1745. Martha Lovelace was heiress to some of her father’s property in Berkshire. She inherited Water Eaton in Oxfordshire and Toddington in Bedfordshire through her grandmother, Anne Lovelace (7th Baroness Wentworth; 1623–1697), and the Bradenham estate in Buckinghamshire through her maternal grandfather, Sir Edmund Pye, 1st Baronet.An alternative attribution to Antonio Verrio (Italian, 1639-1707) has been suggested. The sitter's father was a patron of Verrio and the artist would have certainly met Martha Lovelace while he painted the walls at her family estate, Ladye Place, Hurley.The dress in the present painting is reminiscent of the one in the portrait of Princess Anne by Kneller, executed at the same time. However, the face may be Verrio’s work, which may have been finished by one of Kneller’s assistants.Condition:Some surface scratches, old gilt frame needs attention. Losses to the frame. A long scuff above the head of the sitter. Some paint losses and scuffing to the left of the sitter along the edge of the frame. Old label to the reverse "Mrs Henry Johnson".
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