Hester Pitt (née Granville), Countess of Chatham (1720-1803)

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Hospitality, Lancaster House

William Hoare produced portraits in both oil and pastel. He was based in Bath and it was there he achieved most success. He studied in London in the 1720s and in 1728 travelled to Italy, where he remained for about a decade. There he made contact with Grand Tourists and established the foundations of patronage which continued to serve him well on his return to England. He settled in Bath in the late 1730s, where there was a great demand for portraits. He was involved in the early discussions which eventually led to the creation of the Royal Academy of Art in London in 1768 and George III added Hoare’s name as a founding member of the Academy. Hoare enjoyed a successful career until his death in 1792.

People

Hester (née Granville), Countess of Chatham Pitt (1720 - 1803)

Places

Subjects

female portrait, woman, 18th century costume, robe, dress, necklace, earring, pearls, tassel, fur, wife, crown, Countess, cross, archway, window, table cloth, curtain, table (as Subject)

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

William Hoare (c.1707 - 1792)

Title

Hester Pitt (née Granville), Countess of Chatham (1720-1803)

Date

c.1772

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 230.00 cm, width: 170.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from the Leger Galleries, September 1972

Inscription

Note: A 'signature', added about 1910 by A. Jones of Bath, was removed in c.1972

Provenance

Collection of John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham (1756-1835); by whom presented to politician James Grenville, 1st Baron Glastonbury (1742-1825) of Butleigh, at the dispersal of the contents of Burton Pynset; sold through the 'Butleigh Court' sale; from which sale purchased by the Honourable Mrs Sedley Barnes; by whom sold through Sotheby's, London, 'Fine Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Drawings and Paintings', on 24 November 1965 (Lot 82), for £190; from which sale purchased by Leger Galleries, London; from whom purchased by the Department of the Environment in June 1972

GAC number

9679