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Mezzotint
After Sir Joshua Reynolds
Printed for John Bowles at No.13 in Cornhill. c.1770
Image 133 x 112 mm, Plate 151 x 113 mm, Sheet 171 x
130 mm
unmounted
Portrait of Nelly O’Brien seated almost whole-length to
front, resting her left arm on pedestal, her hands in her
lap; wearing loose robe with sash, pearl jewellery and
her hair up, trees behind.
Although little is known about Nelly O’Brien (d.1768),
she, like her fellow coutersan Kitty Fisher, was
evidently a favourite sitter of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and
is portrayed with affection and warmth in several
portraits. O’Brien began her career as an actress before
finding acceptance within Georgian high society as one
of the many mistresses of George Richard St John, 2nd
Viscount Bolingbroke. “Bully” as he was called by his
contemporaries, is best known for his extravagant
lifestyle and the racehorses he bred. Unhappily married
to the artist Lady Diana Spencer, he charged her with
“criminal conversation” with the nobleman and
celebrated wit Topham Beauclerk, and the marriage was
dissolved in 1768. Two days after the announcement
Spencer married Beauclerk and went on to have four
children with him. The divorce was a major scandal of
the time.
In 1762, O’Brien first visited Reynolds’ Great Newport
Street studio accompanied by the artist’s longtime
friend Admiral Augustus Keppel, lst Viscount Keppel.
The subsequent portrait commissioned by Bolingbroke
confirmed O’Brien’s status as a society beauty. Critics
praised Reynolds’ fine brushwork and use of light
whilst comparing O’Brien with the artist’s other
favoured sitter, Kitty Fisher.
O’Brien gave birth to Bolingbroke’s son in 1764 and
died in London only four years later. She was also
rumoured to have had two more sons with Sackville
Tufton, 8th Earl of the Isle of Thanet.
The London print publisher John Bowles (1701-1779)
was the younger son of Thomas Bowles I, and brother
of Thomas Bowles II. While Thomas II took on the
family business, John set up a separate print shop at
Mercers' Hall, Cheapside in around 1723. By 1733
Bowles was trading at the sign of the Black Horse,
Cornhill. His career can be followed through eight
catalogues that he published between 1728 and 1768.
The last is 167 pages long. In 1752 his son Carington
Bowles became a partner and for about ten years until
1764 they traded as John Bowles & Son. Carington then
left to take on the business of Thomas Bowles II, his
uncle, leaving John to continue the existing business,
dropping the '& Son'. Bowles died a rich man in 1779
and his remaining stock was bought by Robert
Wilkinson. A second son of John Bowles, also named
John, became a barrister and loyalist pamphleteer. He
was disgraced after a fraud case in 1809.
Chaloner Smith undescribed (but listed p.1763),
Hamilton undescribed
Ex. Col.: Hon. Christopher Lennox-Boyd
[27755]
£100
61. Chloe Lamenting Her Dead Sparrow
Mezzotint
After Sir Joshua Reynolds
Printed for Carrington Bowles in St. Pauls Church Yard,
London. c. 1770
Image 133 x 112 mm, Plate 151 x 113 mm, Sheet 218 x
134 mm
unmounted
Portrait of Lady Christiana Collier, seated half-length
and with her head in profile to the left, looking at a dead
bird on a table; whilst wearing a loose robe with a sash
and a flower at her breast.
Lady Christiana Collier was the first wife of Royal
Navy Officer Sir George Collier (1738-1795). She
married Collier on 3 September 1763, and they had one
son. George Collier remarried in 1781.
The printer and publisher Carington Bowles (1724 -
1793) was the son of the printer John Bowles, to whom
he was apprenticed in 1741. In 1752 until around 1762,
they became a partnership known as John Bowles &
Son, at the Black Horse, Cornhill, London. Carington
left the partnership in order to take over the business of
his uncle, Thomas Bowles II in St Paul's Churchyard.
When Carington died in 1793 the business passed to his
son (Henry) Carington Bowles.
Chaloner Smith undescribed (but listed p.1762),
Hamilton undescribed
Ex. Col.: Hon. Christopher Lennox-Boyd
[27759]
£95
62. [Chloe Lamenting Her Dead Sparrow]
Mezzotint
James Watson after Sir Joshua Reynolds