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