Lavinia, Countess Spencer

Sir Joshua Reynolds (after), 1723 - 1792



Lavinia, Countess Spencer

Sir Joshua Reynolds (after) 1723 - 1792

Summary

Female figure seen in left profile but facing to the front. She wears a diaphanous dress with a broad soft collar and dark belt. Her wide brimmed hat covers her curly hair.She has an eyeglass on a chain round her neck. She is seen against a landscape background. Lavinia Countess Spencer (1762-1831) was the eldest daughter of Irish peer Charles Bingham, 1st Earl of Lucan, and his wife the portrait miniature painter Margaret Smyth. Despite the lack of a dowry, she married George Spencer, Viscount Althorp, in 1782. Althorp succeeded as 2nd Earl Spencer in 1783. He was a politician. Together they entertained the period's most prominent political and intellectual figures. She was the pre-eminent hostess in Lodon society at the time. See 1920.176 and 1920.498 for other portraits of Lavinia Bingham, Countess Spencer. See 1920.164 for a portrait of her sister, Lady Anne Bingham.


Object Name

Lavinia, Countess Spencer

Date Created

1876

Dimensions

support: 31.6cm x 26cm

accession number

1920.180

Place of creation

Europe

Support

paper

Medium

Mezzotint

Credit

Dr David Lloyd Roberts bequest, 1920

Legal

© Manchester Art Gallery


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