Judith Lewis and Thomas Frye

By descent from the husband of the female sitter, John, 4th Marquis of Bute (1744–1800);

With Philip Mould, London;

From whom acquired by the present owner.

N. Figgis and B. Rooney, Irish Paintings in the National Gallery of Ireland, vol. I, Dublin 2001, p. 345 n. 2 (as Judith Lewis and Thomas Frye);

A. Crookshank and the Knight of Glin, Ireland's Painters 1600–1940, New Haven and London 2002, pp. 81–82, reproduced in colour fig. 109 (as attributed to Judith Lewis).

This delightful conversation piece is a significant addition to the œuvre of Irish female artist Judith Lewis and one of only three signed works by her hand. She was the sister of Stephen Slaughter, a Dublin-based portrait painter, and later wife of another Dublin artist, John Lewis, who was the first scene-painter to be permanently employed at the Smock Alley Theatre.

This work depicts the Hon. Herbert Hickman-Windsor in a hussar’s uniform, his trousers decorated with Irish Harps, alongside his sister Charlotte Jane, who would later become the Countess of Bute, and from whose husband’s family this picture has descended. Both sitters were the children of Herbert Windsor, 2nd Viscount Windsor, a British landowner and Tory politician. They are depicted in an arcadian landscape, surrounded by a dog, a chipmunk and a variety of exotic birds. In the late 17^th and 18^th centuries, exotic animals were considered the ultimate extravagance and display of wealth as they were imported from far away countries.

When this painting was with Philip Mould (see Provenance), the attribution of the landscape to Judith Lewis and the figures to Thomas Frye was endorsed by Dr Michael Wynne.