ALLAN RAMSAY | Portrait of Jean Nisbet, Lady Banff (d. 1790), half-length, wearing a white silk dress and blue wrap

Aitken Dott, Edinburgh (as an unknown lady);
From whom acquired by Alexander Shaw, 2nd Baron Craigmyle (1883–1944) in 1939;
Thence by descent.

Glasgow, Bellahouston Park, Empire Exhibition, May – December 1938, no. 1;
London, Royal Academy, Allan Ramsay, 7 March – 26 April 1964, no. 8;
Edinburgh, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 August – 27 September 1992; London, London, National Portrait Gallery, 16 October 1992 – 17 January 1993, Allan Ramsay 1713–1784, no. 23.

J. Hayes, 'Allan Ramsay at the Royal Academy', The Burlington Magazine, vol. CVI, no. 733, April 1964, p. 190;
A. Smart, Allan Ramsay 1713–1784, exh. cat., Edinburgh 1992, p. 105, cat. no. 23, reproduced;
A. Smart, Allan Ramsay. A complete catalogue of his paintings, New Haven and London 1999, p. 78, cat. no. 36, reproduced p. 250, fig. 135.

The canvas has a very firm relining, the paint surface is slightly dirty, and the varnish is discoloured. Some small, scattered discoloured retouchings are visible to the naked eye in all four corners, and there are minor, pin-prick discoloured retouchings on the sitter's upper lip, under her left eye, and in her forehead. Inspection under ultraviolet light is impeded by the thick varnish which fluoresces opaquely. It appears as if there may be some fine lines of retouching to disguise the appearance of craquelure in the background, particularly left of the sitter, and some old retouchings just visible in the sitter's hair, in her left eyebrow and eye, and in her hair, collar, and the background around her neck. There may be some further areas of retouching in the darker tones of her white dress. None of these impede the legibility of the painting, which is ready to hang. Offered in a carved and gilt wood frame with minor losses.
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This portrait exemplifies the lively charm and refinement of Ramsay's bust-length portraiture produced during his first years in London, the handling not dissimilar to Hogarth's technique. Lady Banff was the daughter of William Nisbet of Dirleton and his second wife, Jean Bennet. She married Alexander Ogilvy, Lord Banff, son of Alexander Ogilvy of Forglen, Banffshire, in 1749. Other members of her family, such as her sister Wilhelmina, Countess of Leven and Melville,¹ were portrayed by Ramsay and she herself sat to him again in 1747, in a portrait still owned by the family.²

1 See Smart 1999, p. 149, cat. no. 324, reproduced p. 287, fig. 271.
2 See Smart 1999, p. 78, cat. no. 37, reproduced p. 275, fig. 230.