George Romney (1734-1802) Portrait of Lady Edward Bentinck née Elizabeth Cumberland Half...

George Romney (1734-1802) Portrait of Lady Edward Bentinck née Elizabeth Cumberland Half length wearing a white dress, a large hat with blue ribbons, her hands in a muff Oil on canvas 76 x 63.5cm; 30 x 25in Provenance: Leger Galleries, 13 Old Bond Street, London, March 1973 The collection of the late Harry Duckworth and by descent Literature: Humphrey Ward and W. Roberts, Romney Catalogue Raisonné pg. 38 Elizabeth Cumberland was the daughter of the dramatist and civil servant Richard Cumberland (1732-1811). Cumberland and Romney became friends around 1768 and for the next ten years or so he became Romney's most prominent patron, sitting to him and recommending other clients. In the 1770's his daughters also sat to him, but the portraits took a long time to be delivered and in later years their friendship cooled. In the catalogue Raisonné the note describes that Major-General Cumberland recounted that this picture was painted when Romney, in passing, spotted Elizabeth trying on an old fashioned hat for fun and insisted on painting her wearing it. In 1782 Elizabeth married Lord Edward Charles Bentinck, the 2nd son of the 2nd Duke of Portland.