A portrait in three quarter view with subject seated at an ornate table with marble top partially covered with a fringed cloth supported by a gilt classicizing child at the corner. The setting includes a heavy drapery on the left and a colonnade on the right through which a distance landscape is visible. She wears a lace cap with a pink ribbon and a blue waist jacket over a white chemise. She holds a small bouquet of flowers on her lap
Description:
Dorothy Clement was born in County Durham in 1715, the daughter of Hammond Clement (1692-1733) and Priscilla Clement (-1739); when she arrived in London she became a milliner’s assistant. Due to her status, she was never able to marry Sir Edward Walpole (1706-1784) but with him had a son, Edward Jr. (1737-1771), and three daughters: Laura (1734-1813), who became the wife of Frederick Keppel, Bishop of Exeter; Maria (1736-1807) who married first James Waldegrave, Earl Waldegrave, and after his death, William Hanover, Duke of Gloucester; and Charlotte (1738-1789) who wed Lionel Tollemache, Earl of Dysart. Dorothy Clement died on January 17, 1739, and was buried at St James Garlickhythe Church graveyard in the City of London., Title from 2005 Christie's appraisal., Identifying inscription and dated 1726 on the reverse., and From Christie's 2002 appraisal: English School, 18th century.
