Gainsborough Dupont
Charlotte Queen of Great Britain

Public Domain

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Artist Gainsborough Dupont (English, 1754–1797)English, 1754–1797

Afterafter Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727–1788)British, 1727–1788

PublisherPublished by Gainsborough Dupont (London)English, 1754–1797

CultureEnglish

Titles

Charlotte Queen of Great Britain

Date1790

Printed inLondon, England

MediumMezzotint with engraving on laid paper

DimensionsImage: 23 1/4 × 14 1/2 in. (59.1 × 36.8 cm)
Plate: 24 5/8 × 14 15/16 in. (62.5 × 38 cm)
Sheet: 25 1/16 × 15 3/8 in. (63.7 × 39 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by Francita Stuart Koelsch Ulmer in memory of Frances Wells Stuart

Object numberB.2018.4

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Chippendale Bedroom

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

PRINTS

DescriptionGainsborough Dupont produced this mezzotint of Queen Charlotte after a 1781 painting by his uncle, Thomas Gainsborough. Dupont’s masterful use of mezzotint demonstrates the full possibilities of this medium, prized for portraits at this time due to its ability to produce an incredibly wide range of tones. King George III commissioned Gainsborough to create portraits of himself and Queen Charlotte, which later hung in Buckingham Palace. Reactions to the portrait of the Queen included praise by Sir Henry Bate-Dudley that it was, “the only happy likeness we ever saw portrayed of her Majesty.” The Queen, often described as plain or even ugly, wears a dress of gold-spangled silk net over white silk with tasseled bunches of gold lace, which translates well in this mezzotint version. Her full hooped skirt is the centerpiece of the composition, accented by her powdered hair piled high atop her head and adorned with a headdress and pearls at her neck. At the time the painting was made, Charlotte had been Queen for twenty years and had born fifteen children.
Provenance[Isaac and Ede, London], by 2017; purchased by MFAH, 2018.
Exhibition History"Radicals and Revolutionaries: America's Founding Fathers," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 10–May 28, 2018.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below image left: Thos. Gainsborough, Esqr. R.A. Pinxit.
Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below image center: CHARLOTTE QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN &c. &c. &c. / Publish'd June 4, 1790, by Gainsborough Dupont, Nᵒ. 87, Pall Mall, London
Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below image right: Gainsborough Dupont, Sculpᵗ.

No visible watermark under raking light; not possible to examine with transmitted light at time of report

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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