Credit: The Royal Society
    Image number: RS.22143

    Portrait of Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort

    Date
    c.1700
    Sitter
    Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort (1630 - 1715, British) , Botanist
    Creator
    Joseph Nutting (1660 - 1722, British) , Engraver
    After
    Robert Walker (1599 - 1658, British) , Painter
    Object type
    Image reference
    Material
    Technique
    Dimensions
    height (print): 370mm
    width (print): 245mm
    Subject
    Biology
       > Botany
          > Horticulture
    Description
    Half-length portrait of Mary, Duchess of Beaufort within an oval frame. She wears a short pearl necklace, a gown with pearl buttons and has her hair parted in the centre with curls falling down each of her shoulders. Beneath the portrait is a crest with the coat of arms of the Duke of Beaufort on the left and the arms of Arthur Capell, Mary’s father, on the right.

    Inscribed below: ‘R. Walker pinx.’ ‘J. Nutting Sculpsit.’ ‘The Most Noble Mary Dutchess of Beaufort, Daughter to Arthur Lord Capell. Murder’d by ye Rebells, in 1648.’

    Mary Somerset (1630-1715), also known by Mary Seymour, Lady Beauchamp and Mary Capell, British gardener and botanist, was not a Fellow of the Royal Society. She donated a twelve-volume herbarium to Sir Hans Sloane FRS and assisted him with the identification of plants and seeds.
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