George Romney

Mary Bootle, Mrs Wilbraham-Bootle (1734 - 1813)

About this artwork

By 1780, despite intense competition from his older contemporary Sir Joshua Reynolds, Romney’s portraits were highly fashionable. Mary Bootle, inherited Lathom House and estate, Lancashire from her father Robert Bootle, four-time Director of the East India Company. After marrying her husband, Richard Wilbraham-Bootle MP, in 1755, the couple regularly commissioned Romney to paint family portraits.  This companion portrait from 1781, showcases Romney’s characteristic sensitivity to the surface qualities of skin, hair and fabric. Mary appears poised, looking out beyond the frame towards the accompanying portrait of her husband, now in the collection of the Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, Connecticut.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    George Romney (1734 - 1802) English
  • title:
    Mary Bootle, Mrs Wilbraham-Bootle (1734 - 1813)
  • date created:
    1781
  • materials:
    Oil on canvas
  • measurements:
    123.90 x 99.70 cm; Framed: 140.50 x 116.00 x 6.50 cm / 16.00 kg
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Purchased with the assistance of the Cowan Smith Bequest Fund 1927
  • accession number:
    NG 1674
  • gallery:
  • depicted:
  • artwork photographed by:
    Antonia Reeve
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George Romney

George Romney