Lot 53: Attributed to William Aikman (Tayside 1683-1731 London)

Attributed to William Aikman (Tayside 1683-1731 London)
Portrait of a lady, traditionally identified as Mary Campbell of Mamore, née Bellenden (c.1685-d.1736), wife of Colonel John Campbell of Mamore (c.1693-1770), later fourth Duke of Argyll, half-length, in an oyster satin dress with diamond clasp, in a feigned oval
oil on canvas
30 x 25 in. (76.3 x 63.5 cm.)

David Roberts R.A. (1796-1864) (according to an old hand-written label on the reverse).

Property of the late Brian Brolly
Removed from Kitt's Quarry, Burford, Oxfordshire (lots 35, 37a, 44, 50, 52, 53)
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Mary Bellenden was the third daughter of John Bellenden, 2nd Lord Bellenden (c.1660-1706), and Mary, Dowager Countess of Dalhousie (c.1669-1726). Famed for her beauty and high spirits, she featured in a number of poems and plays by Alexander Pope and John Gay, including Gay's 'Damon and Cupid' and 'Mr Pope's Welcome from Greece', and Pope's 'The Court Ballad'. Lord Hervey recalls Bellenden as 'the most likable woman of her time'. The Prince of Wales attempted to woo her, before she secretly married Colonel John Campbell of Mamore (c.1693-1770) in 1720.