William OWEN
English 1769-1825
Rachel, Lady Beaumont
1808
oil on canvas
214.3 x 136.1 cm
Felton Bequest 1955
3267-4

When this portrait was painted Lady Beaumont was ninety-one years old, an extraordinary age for someone in the eighteenth-century. She holds a snuffbox and wears glasses, which is indicative of her still active mind and life. She was noted for her great intellect and refined taste in art, poetry and other literature. She was a strong influence on her son, George Howland Beaumont, who was a great collector and patron of John Constable.