Lot 162: James Warren Childe (British, 1778-1862), Lady Graves (née Sophie Thérèse Berthier) (d.1833), wearing blue dress with gigot sleeves and spreading white lace collar tied with yellow bow, gold belt buckle and fine gold chain around her neck, her brown

Lady Graves (née Sophie Thérèse Berthier) (d.1833), wearing blue dress with gigot sleeves and spreading white lace collar tied with yellow bow, gold belt buckle and fine gold chain around her neck, her brown hair dressed in ringlets, seated, a white-and-tan spaniel in her lap, a column with drapery behind, an open window with landscape to the left.
Watercolour on paper, signed on the obverse Childe, signed on the reverse and dated 1828/ JW Childe/ 17 Buckingham Sυt/ Adelphi, fitted red leather travelling case.
Rectangular, 150mm (5 7/8in) high

An old paper label to the reverse of the case identifies the sitter as Lady Mary Paget, a daughter of Sir Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge. She was born around 1783 and married the 2nd Lord Graves in 1803. They had six daughters and two sons and she died on 29 April, 1835. However, Lady Graves' costume - which would have been fashionable in the early 1830s - coupled with her apparent youth, indicates that she is more probably Lady Paget's daughter-in-law, Sophie Thérèse Berthier, who married William Thomas Graves (subsequently 3rd Lord Graves) in 1829 and who died in 1833.

For a portrait of the sitter's husband, see lot 158.