William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne (Lord Shelburne)

This portraitback to top

Before presenting NPG 43, Lord Lansdowne sent this portrait of his father to be lined, maintaining, that ‘it was the first ever painted of him’. [1] But NPG 43 is a reduced copy from the Reynolds three-quarter length, of which there are several versions, showing Shelburne (as he then was) seated at table in his peer’s robes, his right hand resting on a paper. The earliest, dateable 1766, at Dalmeny, was originally given to Colonel Barré, [2] and there are replicas at Bowood, probably painted in 1767, [3] and Saltram, dateable 1767-70. [4]

Footnotesback to top

1) Undated letter to Scharf c.10 June 1858 (NPG archive).
2) D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds, I, 2000, no.1440 (engraved S. W. Reynolds 1824).
3) Ibid., no.1442.
4) Ibid., no.1441.

Referenceback to top

Mannings 2000
D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds, 2 vols., 2000, no. 1442b.

Physical descriptionback to top

Grey eyes, powdered hair with a white ribbon, wearing a white neckcloth and bands, and ermine robes over a red suit trimmed with ermine; gold waistcoat; deep red velvet chair.

Provenanceback to top

Presented by the sitter’s son, the 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, 1858.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.

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