Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue
Mary Delany (née Granville) (1700-1788), Paper collage artist; memoir and letter writer
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
c.1730
Unattributed painting, half length. Private collection (illus. Handel, NPG, 1985, no.156; Hayden 1980, p 37 an oval detail). Version in widow’s dress with Lady Llanover in 1878 (Sir George Scharf's Sketch Books, 96/65).
1740
Miniature by C. F. Zincke, as Mrs Pendarves, bust-length oval. Christie’s, 8 March 1995, lot 21. Exhibited SKM 1865 (2525) lent Mrs Greville Howard. Set in the lid of a gold portrait box which has three other miniatures by Zincke of the Duchess of Portland, Mrs Elizabeth Montagu and another. Mrs Delany was sitting to Zincke in April 1740 (E. J. Climenson, Montagu Corr., I, 1906, p 45).
c.1740?
Drawing by Lady Catherine Hanmer (d. 1741), three-quarter length at her easel. Private collection (illus. Hayden 1980, p 94).
c.1740-45
Painting formerly attributed to Van Aken, small bust-length painted oval. Sotheby’s, 13 February 1980, lot 193.
c.1745-50
Miniature enamel attributed to Lucius Barber, bust-length. Formerly in the collection of R. A. E. Herbert (J. Steegman, Portraits in Welsh Houses, II, p 152, no.27). Engraved J. Brown 1861,‘from an enamel picture given to Erskine Sandford to the Baroness de Bunsen’ (Lady Llanover ed., The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs Delany, 1861-62, II, front.). A miniature enamel by Rupert Barber listed by Strickland (W. Strickland, Dictionary of Irish Artists, 1913, I, p 22) and another ‘possibly by Barber’ illus. Hayden 1980, p 77. Mrs Delany patronised and encouraged ‘Mr Barber’ in Dublin; in March 1746 ‘Barber’ had ‘just finished another picture of me in enamel’ and he was making copies for her that same year (Lady Llanover ed., The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs Delany, 1861-62, II, pp 429, 421) and in 1755 (Lady Llanover ed., The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs Delany, 1861-62, III, p 385).
1782
Painting by John Opie, see NPG 1030.
c.1785
Drawing attributed to John Hoppner, half length, with black hat. Victoria and Albert Museum (E.580.1929).
Silhouettes of Mrs Delany in old age illus. Connoisseur, XXV, 1909, p 219 (Wellesley collection); ibid., XC, 1932, p 292 (Royal Collection), and Hayden 1980, p 172.
Doubtful Portraits
Scharf recorded a bust-length portrait with Lady Llanover in 1888 (Sir George Scharf's Trustees' Sketch Books, 34/51; he had previously thought it might show Mrs Delany’s mother; Sir George Scharf's Sketch Books, 96/64v; 1878); he also noted an unattributed half length identified as Mary Granville at Longleat in 1862 (Sir George Scharf's Sketch Books, 65/62), not in the 1881 Longleat cat. An unattributed half length of c.1725, wearing a hood, with R. A. E. Herbert, described as Mrs Delany (J. Steegman, Portraits in Welsh Houses, II, p 150, no.11); another in the Royal Collection (illus. Country Life, CXXXIII, 1963, p 1273, as Mrs Delany), but see Sir Oliver Millar, The Later Georgian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, I, 1969, no.1231.
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.
Unattributed painting, half length. Private collection (illus. Handel, NPG, 1985, no.156; Hayden 1980, p 37 an oval detail). Version in widow’s dress with Lady Llanover in 1878 (Sir George Scharf's Sketch Books, 96/65).
1740
Miniature by C. F. Zincke, as Mrs Pendarves, bust-length oval. Christie’s, 8 March 1995, lot 21. Exhibited SKM 1865 (2525) lent Mrs Greville Howard. Set in the lid of a gold portrait box which has three other miniatures by Zincke of the Duchess of Portland, Mrs Elizabeth Montagu and another. Mrs Delany was sitting to Zincke in April 1740 (E. J. Climenson, Montagu Corr., I, 1906, p 45).
c.1740?
Drawing by Lady Catherine Hanmer (d. 1741), three-quarter length at her easel. Private collection (illus. Hayden 1980, p 94).
c.1740-45
Painting formerly attributed to Van Aken, small bust-length painted oval. Sotheby’s, 13 February 1980, lot 193.
c.1745-50
Miniature enamel attributed to Lucius Barber, bust-length. Formerly in the collection of R. A. E. Herbert (J. Steegman, Portraits in Welsh Houses, II, p 152, no.27). Engraved J. Brown 1861,‘from an enamel picture given to Erskine Sandford to the Baroness de Bunsen’ (Lady Llanover ed., The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs Delany, 1861-62, II, front.). A miniature enamel by Rupert Barber listed by Strickland (W. Strickland, Dictionary of Irish Artists, 1913, I, p 22) and another ‘possibly by Barber’ illus. Hayden 1980, p 77. Mrs Delany patronised and encouraged ‘Mr Barber’ in Dublin; in March 1746 ‘Barber’ had ‘just finished another picture of me in enamel’ and he was making copies for her that same year (Lady Llanover ed., The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs Delany, 1861-62, II, pp 429, 421) and in 1755 (Lady Llanover ed., The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs Delany, 1861-62, III, p 385).
1782
Painting by John Opie, see NPG 1030.
c.1785
Drawing attributed to John Hoppner, half length, with black hat. Victoria and Albert Museum (E.580.1929).
Silhouettes of Mrs Delany in old age illus. Connoisseur, XXV, 1909, p 219 (Wellesley collection); ibid., XC, 1932, p 292 (Royal Collection), and Hayden 1980, p 172.
Doubtful Portraits
Scharf recorded a bust-length portrait with Lady Llanover in 1888 (Sir George Scharf's Trustees' Sketch Books, 34/51; he had previously thought it might show Mrs Delany’s mother; Sir George Scharf's Sketch Books, 96/64v; 1878); he also noted an unattributed half length identified as Mary Granville at Longleat in 1862 (Sir George Scharf's Sketch Books, 65/62), not in the 1881 Longleat cat. An unattributed half length of c.1725, wearing a hood, with R. A. E. Herbert, described as Mrs Delany (J. Steegman, Portraits in Welsh Houses, II, p 150, no.11); another in the Royal Collection (illus. Country Life, CXXXIII, 1963, p 1273, as Mrs Delany), but see Sir Oliver Millar, The Later Georgian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, I, 1969, no.1231.
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.