John Downman ARA (Welsh 1750-1824)

John Downman ARA (Welsh 1750-1824)
Group portrait of the three daughters of the 7th Earl of Cavan, Lady Honora Elizabeth Hester Lambart (1784-1856), Lady Sophia Augusta Lambart (1787-1798), Lady Alicia Margaretta Hockmore Lambart (1785-1818), and their dog
Signed J Downman (centre right, to chair)
Coloured chalks, pencil and stump, oval
46 x 37.5cm; 18 x 14¾in

Provenance:
By descent in the family of the sitters;
De Muizon, Chantilly, 1 October 2001, lot 21;
with Judy and Brian Harden Portrait Miniatures

Exhibited:
London, Philip Mould & Company, Downman In Vogue, 2020

In this ambitious and large work Downman depicts the three daughters of General Richard Lambart, 7th Earl of Cavan (1763-1837) and his first wife Honora Margaretta Lambart, née Gould (d. 1813). The sitters are from left: Lady Honora Elizabeth Hester Lambart (1784-1856), Lady Sophia Augusta Lambart (1787-1798) and Lady Alicia Margaretta Hockmore Lambart (1785-1818). The portrait dates from 1788. They also had four sons.

Honora married firstly Captain Noodgate of the Royal Navy and secondly Captain Harvey. Alicia married Philip Paunceforte-Duncombe (1784-1849) in 1813 at Fawley, Hampshire and they had three children. He was High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire.

Preliminary sketches for the eldest two children are recorded in the Maitland collection (see G.C. Williamson; John Downman, his life and works, 1907, ill. p.36).