John CONSTABLE, R.A, after Sir Joshua Reynolds P.R.A

The Hon. Mrs. Tollemache in the character of Miranda, in The Tempest

oil on canvas

93 x 57 inches

signed and dated 1807 (lower right)

in a contemporary carved gilt frame

Price: Sold

Provenance
- Commissioned in 1807 by Wilbraham Tollemache, 6th Earl of Dysart for his sister-in-law - Magdalena, Countess of Dysart (d. 1823);
- her brother, Henry Greswolde Lewis, Malvern Hall (d. 1829);
- his kinsman, Edmund Maysey Wigley Greswolde (d. 1833);
- his niece, Mrs. Suckling, her sale Sotheby's 23 July 1924, lot 113, (Thurloe);
- her daughter, Mrs. Ann de Pass;
- her son, J.J. Fraser, his sale Sotheby's 15 July 1964, lot 111, bt. Leger;
- Mr. Luis Ferre, Museum Ponce, Puerto Rico;
-The Hon. Michael Tollemache, Framsden Hall, 1976

Literature
- G. Reynolds, The Early Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, London, 1996, vol. I, no. 07.8, p.116; vol. II, pl.678.
- David Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds R.A., A Complete Catalogue of his Paintings, Yale, 2000, text vol. p.445, no. 1753b (as copy by John Constable of the original portrait by Reynolds in the Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood, London.
- J. Bryant, Kenwood, Paintings in the Iveagh Bequest, Yale, 2003, p. 322 and illus. fig 3 on p. 324

In this painting, Mrs. Tollemache is cast in the role of Miranda in Act 1, scene ii of Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. She is shown at the moment when she sees, for the first time, her future husband, Ferdinand, son of the King of Naples arrive by ship lying wrecked in a tempest but magically restored by her father Prospero who watches from behind a tree. At the sight of Ferdinand, Miranda exclaims, ‘I might call him a thing divine, for nothing natural I ever saw so noble’. Caliban, son of a witch and enslaved by Prospero for trying to ravish his daughter, also watch at her feet.

This is one of the copies of family portraits commissioned by Wilbraham, 6th Earl of Dysart from Constable in 1807 for Magdalena, Dowager Countess of Dysart, widow of the 5th Earl. His late wife, Maria, Countess of Dysart had died at Ham House, one of the family seats, in 1804 and thereafter the Earl and the Dowager Countess shared his mansion at 148 Piccadilly.