63 - Sir Joshua Reynolds (British, 1723-1792) Portrait of Lady Fortescue, Anne Campbell, half-length (circa 1759-60) oil on canvas Unframed: 81 x 69 cm. (31 7/8 x 27 1/8 in.) Framed: 98.5 x 87 cm. (38 3/4 x 34 1/4 in.) Possibly with Colnaghi, London; From whom possibly sold; Christie's, London, 4 February 1860, lot 62: ‘Portrait of a Lady Fortescue, in a blue dress, leaning on a table. A beautiful early work’ (purchased by ‘Ross’ for 17 gns); Sale; Christie's, London, 21 May 1971, lot 4; Where purchased by Kenneth Kendall; By whom sold; Heritage Auctions, Dallas, ‘From the estate of Kenneth Kendall’, 17 May 2011, lot 64011 (with endorsement from Prof. David Mannings); Where purchased by the present owner. Property from a Distinguished U.K. Private Collection Literature: Possibly A. Graves and W.V. Cronin, A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, London 1889, vol. I, p. 327 Lady Ann Fortescue (née Campbell) was the wife of 2nd Baron Matthew Fortescue (1719-1785), and the pair lived at Castle Hill, Devon, from 1752, where 17 generations of the Fortescue family have resided since 1454 when Martin Fortescue, the eldest son of Sir John Fortescue, Lord Chief Justice and Chancellor to Henry VI, moved to the estate with his wife, Elizabeth Denzell. The present painting was unknown to Mannings when his catalogue was published in 2000. However, at this time he did identify that Reynolds could have painted an additional portrait of Lady Fortescue between 1757 and 1760, supported by his ‘pocket book' where he logged his appointments. He recorded six sittings with Lady Fortescue in May 1757 alone (cat. no. 663).1 This portrait is particularly important, as the first of these depictions was a full-length portrait that was destroyed alongside a portrait of the sitter’s partner, Lord Fortescue, in a fire at Castle Hill in 1934. Equally significant is the appearance of the sitter, whose pale complexion reflects Reynolds’ characteristic experimentations with pigments. Unlike the other known portrayals of Lady Fortescue, here she gazes directly at the viewer, set against vibrant red drapery, and adorned with pearls, gold rimmed material and jewelled buttons, highlighting her beauty and status. We could assume that the variation in presentations of the sitter may be due to the requests of the commissioner who could have been her husband, or perhaps Lady Fortescue herself. The present work was accepted by Prof. David Mannings as an autograph work by Sir Joshua Reynolds in January 2011. References: 1 Prof. D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds. A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, Yale University Press 2000, p. 200