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Dimensions: 30 by 24 1/4 in.; 76.2 by 61.6cm

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Provenance: PROPERTY FROM AN ESTATE

King;
By whom sold, London, Christie's, March 25, 1893, lot 366 to L. Lesser, London;
With Lesser Galleries, London;
Possibly Lord Powerscourt;
Possibly anonymous sale, London, Christie's, March 13, 1914, lot 61, to Wise;
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, by 1941;
By whom sold, New York, Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., April 21, 1971, lot 161 (as Attributed to Reynolds);
There purchased by Newhouse Galleries, Inc., New York;
From whom purchased by a member of the present family on November 15, 1971.

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Exhibited: Columbus, Ohio, The Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Sir Joshua Reynolds and his American Contemporaries, 1958, no. 10.

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Literature: A. Graves and W. Cronin, A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A., London 1899, vol. I, p. 132, vol. II, reproduced opp. p. 584;
E. Waterhouse, Reynolds, London 1941, pp. 59, 85 and 116;
D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds, A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, New Haven 2000, p. 115, cat. no. 286.

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Notes: The sitter was the wife of Edmund Burke (1729-1797), the famed politician, essayist and philosopher who was a close friend of Reynolds. She was the daughter of Burke's physician and friend, Dr. Christopher Nugent and first met Burke when he was under the care of her father. Nugent had invited Burke to stay with him in Bath to recuperate from an illness and it was there that their courtship began. They were married on March 12, 1757.

The present portrait was painted circa 1767-73. Three appointments with Mrs. Burke are recorded in 1767; others are recorded in 1768 and 1769. There is then a gap of nearly four years when there are three sittings in 1773.