Reynolds, Sir Joshua (PRA FRS FRSA, 1723 - 1792)
The Rev and Mrs Lloyd in Turquerie (1757)
A pendant pair of portraits
Oil on canvas
Property of a Lady
Dimensions:
(Canvas) 30 in (H) x 25 in (W)
Literature:
- D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds: A complete catalogue of his paintings, New Haven and London, 2000; no. 1138 & 1139; Figs 272 & 273.
- A Ribeiro, The dress worn at masquerades in England, 1730 to 1790, and its relation to fancy dress in portraiture, London, 229; cf. ch. IV, pl. 23.
- G&C volume II, 589.
Provenance:
Rev William Lloyd:
- Aston Hall sale, 1923
- Christie’s, 29 June 1928 (Lot 157), bt Rothschild
- Anonymous sale, 17 April, 1931 (Lot 97), ‘From the coll. of General Lloyd’, bt Parker
- Sir Austin Harris and thence by descent
Mrs William Lloyd (née Snyed):
- D H Sneyd sale, Puttick & Simpson’s 1913 (bought Huggins, 720 guineas)
- Sold 16th April 1929 by the Dowager Victoria Sackville to Sir Austin Harris for 1000 guineas
- Thence by descent
Lot Essay:
Turquerie was the Orientalist fashion in Western Europe from the 16th to 19th centuries for emulating aspects of Turkish art and culture. This phenomenon became more popular through trading routes with the West and increased diplomatic relationships between the Ottomans and European nations. The ‘Oriental’ Turkish costume was quickly adopted by elegant European sitters as a reference to their worldliness and internationalism.
British historian and anecdotalist Joseph Spence, for instance, spoke with great admiration of John Montagu, fourth Earl of Sandwich, who extended his grand tour in the late 1730s to the Ottoman Empire:
‘A man that has been all over Greece, at Constantinople, Troy, the pyramids of Egypt, and the deserts of Arabia, talks and looks with a greater air than we little people can do that have only crawled about France and Italy’.
As such, the 18th century marked the apex of ‘turquerie’, with Sir Joshua Reynolds too engaging in painting a few of his sitters in the sought after turquerie dress (see Reynolds’ portrait of Mrs Baldwin, 1782).
The present pendant portraits depict the Rev William Lloyd and Mrs Elizabeth Lloyd (née Snyed) of Aston Hall, Oswestry and are probably one of, if not the, marital portrait of the couple as they were painted the same year of their marriage. The Reverend and Mrs Lloyd married in February and there is documentation of appointments with 'Mr Loyd' in 1757 on Mar. 24 (2 0'clock), 28 (midday); 30
(either at eleven or at three, cf. Mrs Lloyd) and Apr. 2 (at 10). There is a cancelled appointment with either Mr or Mrs Lloyd on Apr. 1 (at 2).
Both the Reverend Lloyd and Mrs Elizabeth Lloyd can be seen dressed in detailed, luxurious Turkish dress. Aileen Ribeiro defines this as "an oriental masquerade dress, with the Rev Lloyd's turban pinned on top with a jewel and his fur-lined, short-sleeved garment - jacket or long gown – delicately and finely painted with the decoration of embroidery and tassels" (Masquerades 1984, 221). Mrs Lloyd can be seen in a heavily embroidered and tasselled gown. Her hand on her hip draws striking attention to the detail of a small Ottoman-style dagger slipped into her metal-worked belt.
The paintings have been in the family of the vendor since the 1930s, with letters existing from the Dowager Sackville (April 16, 1929) regarding the sale to Sir Austin Harris (family of the vendor) regarding the purchase of Elizabeth Lloyd. The pair of portraits were separated and then reunited by Sir Austin. The Reverend Lloyd was sold by Rothschild, 1931 and purchased by Parker - then to Sir Austin Harris.
