Elizabeth Craven and Her Children
The writer Elizabeth Craven had seven children while she was married to her first husband, William, Lord Craven.
This group portrait shows six of them, and is dated 1777. They are standing in front of an archway of classical design, through which a landscaped park can be seen. It may be that of Benham Place, in Berkshire, where Capability Brown had just landscaped the park for Lord Craven. The painting was in the Craven family collection until sold by Sotheby's in 2013 for only £25,000, which sounds like a bargain to me. Four of the children are standing, one is sitting on a woman's lap and the youngest of all is a baby in the arms of another woman, at the back of the picture.
But which child is which? And who are the women holding the youngest ones? Certainly neither is Elizabeth Craven.
One identification is easy. The boy in the greenish-blue jacket and yellow waistcoat, with a dog at his side, is Elizabeth Craven's eldest son, William, who later became Earl of Craven. Born in 1770, he was heir to all the Craven estates, which made him a very fortunate young man. Elizabeth addressed one of her most important books to him, Letters to Her Son. He is aged only seven in this painting.
The eldest and tallest child in the picture is the girl in the white dress, who is placing her arm protectively on her brother's shoulder. This is the first daughter, named Elizabeth after her mother and grandmother. She was born on 20th April 1768, and would have been nine years old when this was painted. In her left hand, she holds a book, indicating a taste for reading. Her mother certainly took great care over the education of all the girls. and was very pleased if they shared her literary tastes.
The girl in the blue dress, holding a basket of fruit, is the second child, and second girl, of the family. Her name was Maria Margaret and she was born on 26th April 1769, making her eight years old in the picture. She went on to become Lady Sefton, one of the patronesses of Almack's. Curiously enough, there are no surviving portraits of her when grown-up.
Beside her, is a smaller girl, wearing a pale blue-grey dress with a blue sash. She is holding up some cherries in her right hand and dangling them in front of her face. This must be the Craven's fourth child, and third daughter, Georgiana, who was born at Coombe Abbey in July 1772. She was named after Elizabeth's sister Georgiana, Lady Granard. Now, compare her with this other painting which was also in the Craven family collection.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2004/arcade-fine-arts-old-master-and-19th-century-european-art-n01736/lot.136.html
But which child is which? And who are the women holding the youngest ones? Certainly neither is Elizabeth Craven.
One identification is easy. The boy in the greenish-blue jacket and yellow waistcoat, with a dog at his side, is Elizabeth Craven's eldest son, William, who later became Earl of Craven. Born in 1770, he was heir to all the Craven estates, which made him a very fortunate young man. Elizabeth addressed one of her most important books to him, Letters to Her Son. He is aged only seven in this painting.
The eldest and tallest child in the picture is the girl in the white dress, who is placing her arm protectively on her brother's shoulder. This is the first daughter, named Elizabeth after her mother and grandmother. She was born on 20th April 1768, and would have been nine years old when this was painted. In her left hand, she holds a book, indicating a taste for reading. Her mother certainly took great care over the education of all the girls. and was very pleased if they shared her literary tastes.
The girl in the blue dress, holding a basket of fruit, is the second child, and second girl, of the family. Her name was Maria Margaret and she was born on 26th April 1769, making her eight years old in the picture. She went on to become Lady Sefton, one of the patronesses of Almack's. Curiously enough, there are no surviving portraits of her when grown-up.
Beside her, is a smaller girl, wearing a pale blue-grey dress with a blue sash. She is holding up some cherries in her right hand and dangling them in front of her face. This must be the Craven's fourth child, and third daughter, Georgiana, who was born at Coombe Abbey in July 1772. She was named after Elizabeth's sister Georgiana, Lady Granard. Now, compare her with this other painting which was also in the Craven family collection.
Thomas Beach RA portrait of Miss Craven , three-quarter length, standing in a landscape holding a bullfinch, signed and dated lower left 1776
It is a very similar but slightly younger child, wearing the same dress, with a different sash, and in a very similar pose, but instead of holding the cherries, she is holding a pet bird. It is dated 1776, so it was done the year before the group portrait. It is identified on Sotheby's website as being Maria Craven, but cannot be her as she would have been seven years old at that date, and the girl shown is no more than four. So it must be Georgiana, and it looks as if the artist - or the Cravens - liked the picture so much that they decided to include a virtual replica in the group portrait the following year.
There are two more children in the group picture, a toddler and a baby. The child sitting on the lap of the woman in the red dress is evidently the next in age, and she is dressed in a palest blue gown that has a passable resemblance to those of all her elder sisters. She must be the youngest daughter of the family, Arabella, born in 1774. And the baby, being held by the woman in black at the back, must be the second son, Henry Augustus Berkeley Craven, who was born in December 1776. He grew up to be a Major-General. He looks at least six months old, which means we can date this painting around the middle of 1777.
Elizabeth's youngest child, and third son, Keppel Craven, does not appear in this picture as he had not yet been born.
Now who are the two women in the picture? Note that they are portrayed very differently. The one standing behind the children is dressed all in black, and her face is shaded by a hat, so she is hardly visible. This self-effacing presentation suggests that she is a nurse-maid, a paid nanny, who is only there to hold the baby and make sure it can be seen and counted.
The woman sitting on the right is a very different matter. She is seated and wearing a fine, if slightly old-fashioned, scarlet dress with elaborate lace under-sleeves. She is also wearing a fancy lace cap on her head. The lace stands up at the front to form a sort of tiara effect. This type of headwear was only worn by ladies, and by 1777 it was rather old-fashioned. She is certainly a gentlewoman, and she is not particularly young. One possibility is that this could be Lord Craven's mother. He was fond of her and it would have been a graceful compliment to include her in this painting of her grandchildren.
Another possibility is that she could be the governess. Elizabeth Craven says in her Memoirs that she was very attached to her own governess as a child, and this Swiss lady taught her French and Italian. When Elizabeth married Lord Craven and had daughters of her own, she invited the same governess to live with the family and teach them. She never names this lady, who evidently played such an important part in her life, and it would be nice to think that we had a picture of her here.
It is worth asking why a separate portrait of Georgiana was done in 1776. Perhaps it was a gift to a godparent, or perhaps it was just done to hang in one of the other Craven residences. This was not the only single portrait that was done of one of the Craven children. The eldest son, William, was also depicted in this beautiful full-length portrait, which seems to have been done a little earlier than the large group canvas:-
He is wearing the costume of the early seventeenth-century, and this is not just for the fun of putting on fancy-dress. It is a definite allusion to his famous ancestor and namesake, William, 1st Earl of Craven, who fought in the English Civil War on the royalist side, set up the family line, and built Ashdown House for the Queen of Bohemia. Young William in 1775 is being presented as heir to that splendid tradition, with cavalier curls down to his shoulders.
Elizabeth Craven the writer suffered terribly when forced to part with her children. But why was this and what did she write about it?
To find out more about Elizabeth Craven, her life and her writings, read
Elizabeth Craven: Writer, Feminist and European by Julia Gasper
Now who are the two women in the picture? Note that they are portrayed very differently. The one standing behind the children is dressed all in black, and her face is shaded by a hat, so she is hardly visible. This self-effacing presentation suggests that she is a nurse-maid, a paid nanny, who is only there to hold the baby and make sure it can be seen and counted.
The woman sitting on the right is a very different matter. She is seated and wearing a fine, if slightly old-fashioned, scarlet dress with elaborate lace under-sleeves. She is also wearing a fancy lace cap on her head. The lace stands up at the front to form a sort of tiara effect. This type of headwear was only worn by ladies, and by 1777 it was rather old-fashioned. She is certainly a gentlewoman, and she is not particularly young. One possibility is that this could be Lord Craven's mother. He was fond of her and it would have been a graceful compliment to include her in this painting of her grandchildren.
Another possibility is that she could be the governess. Elizabeth Craven says in her Memoirs that she was very attached to her own governess as a child, and this Swiss lady taught her French and Italian. When Elizabeth married Lord Craven and had daughters of her own, she invited the same governess to live with the family and teach them. She never names this lady, who evidently played such an important part in her life, and it would be nice to think that we had a picture of her here.
It is worth asking why a separate portrait of Georgiana was done in 1776. Perhaps it was a gift to a godparent, or perhaps it was just done to hang in one of the other Craven residences. This was not the only single portrait that was done of one of the Craven children. The eldest son, William, was also depicted in this beautiful full-length portrait, which seems to have been done a little earlier than the large group canvas:-
He is wearing the costume of the early seventeenth-century, and this is not just for the fun of putting on fancy-dress. It is a definite allusion to his famous ancestor and namesake, William, 1st Earl of Craven, who fought in the English Civil War on the royalist side, set up the family line, and built Ashdown House for the Queen of Bohemia. Young William in 1775 is being presented as heir to that splendid tradition, with cavalier curls down to his shoulders.
Elizabeth Craven the writer suffered terribly when forced to part with her children. But why was this and what did she write about it?
To find out more about Elizabeth Craven, her life and her writings, read
Elizabeth Craven: Writer, Feminist and European by Julia Gasper
published by Vernon Press.
https://vernonpress.com/title?id=334
23 Jun 2017 - Elizabeth Craven's fascinating life was full of travel, love-affairs and scandals but this biography, the first to appear for a century, is the only one to focus on her as a writer...
* Thomas Beach, R.A.
Milton-Abbas 1738-1806 Dorchester
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2004/arcade-fine-arts-old-master-and-19th-century-european-art-n01736/lot.136.html
Thomas Beach, R.A.
WILLIAM, EARL OF CRAVEN, AS A BOY, IN VAN DYCK COSTUME
LOT SOLD. 11,875 GBP (Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium)
http://www.artnet.com/artists/thomas-beach/past-auction-results
LOT #200
JULY 04, 2013
Sotheby's, London
Old Master & British Paintings Day Sale (Sale L13034)
LOT SOLD 25,000 GBP
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2004/arcade-fine-arts-old-master-and-19th-century-european-art-n01736/lot.136.html
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2015/collections-l15304/lot.943.html
There were at least three separate contemporaneous tudies by Beach, of the two eldest children and the young child with seated adult, all in very similar postures, which were sold in an earlier dispersal sale (by the estate of the 7th earl, Sotheby's 11 Dec 1984). All are illustrated in the catalogue (the seated figures being identified as 'Miss Arabella Craven with her nurse') as is an attractive profile sketch of Elizabeth as a young woman ('Circle of George Romney').
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