Portrait of the Duchess of Portsmouth
Date
early 18th century
Sitter
Louise Renée de Penancoet de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth (1646 - 1734, French-born British)
Creator
Unknown, Engraver
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 178mm
width (print): 122mm
width (print): 122mm
Description
Full length seated portrait of the Duchess of Portsmouth, shown in a loose robe over a laced corset and underskirt. The sitter wears a fontage bonnet and holds a fan in her right hand. Her left elbow rests on a cushion, upon a pedestal.
Plate from a grangerized copy of A history of the Royal Society, with memoirs of the Presidents…by Charles Richard Weld (London, John W. Parker, 1848). In this edition, the original two volumes were extended to eight volumes with the addition of extra-illustrations and documents, by Alexander Meyrick Broadley.
The print appears at p.252 in volume 2 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. In the accompanying text, Weld quotes John Flamsteed’s account of the move to investigate methods of finding longitude, by a French astronomer who ‘made an interest with a French Lady, then in favour at Court…’.
Inscribed below: ‘Louise, Dutchess of Portsmouth in an Undress.’
Louise Renée de Penancoet de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth and Duchess of Aubigny (1646-1734) French-born Royal Mistress to King Charles II.
Plate from a grangerized copy of A history of the Royal Society, with memoirs of the Presidents…by Charles Richard Weld (London, John W. Parker, 1848). In this edition, the original two volumes were extended to eight volumes with the addition of extra-illustrations and documents, by Alexander Meyrick Broadley.
The print appears at p.252 in volume 2 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. In the accompanying text, Weld quotes John Flamsteed’s account of the move to investigate methods of finding longitude, by a French astronomer who ‘made an interest with a French Lady, then in favour at Court…’.
Inscribed below: ‘Louise, Dutchess of Portsmouth in an Undress.’
Louise Renée de Penancoet de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth and Duchess of Aubigny (1646-1734) French-born Royal Mistress to King Charles II.
Object history
Print from Charles Richard Weld's 2 volume A history of the Royal Society... (London, John W. Parker, 1848) grangerized by the writer and collector Alexander Meyrick Broadley (1847–1916) into 8 volumes, adding illustrative material and manuscript items to Weld's text. The books were initially owned by Ludwig Mond FRS (1839–1909), and according to an inscription by his son Robert Ludwig Mond FRS (1867–1938) they were intended for presentation to the Society. This eventually happened in late 1959, the donor being the politician Harry Nathan (1889–1963), Lord Nathan of Churt.
Related fellows
Charles Richard Weld (1813 - 1869, British) , Author
Associated place