Portraits of 9th Earl of Cathcart & his wife by Reynolds

Acquisition of a pair of portraits of the 9th Earl of Cathcart and his wife, which had hung at Manchester Art Gallery since 1929. Three-quarter length portrait of a young man, with his body in three-quarter view to the right and head turned to gaze at the viewer. He is depicted standing by a low balustrade, framed by swathes of heavy drapery decorated with fringes and tassels, with his right arm resting on the rail. He wears a wig tied with a ribbon and has on his right cheekbone a black, silk lunette patch, to cover a scar received at the battle of Fontenoy in Flanders during the Wars of the Austrian Succession. In the background are shadowy architectural forms, with part of an archway visible to the right through which can be seen the corner of a distant building.Painted c1753-5 Oil on canvas; 124 x 99cms Three-quarter length portrait of a woman, forward-facing, with her baby daughter seated on her knee at an angle facing the right. The mother has one hand gently touching her child's arm, which is extended forward, and the other wrapped around its body. A light, gauze-like drapery is wrapped over the mother's head and also around the child. To the right of the figures, seated on a pedestal, is a whippet, which gazes up at the face of the woman; the child, in turn, gazes at the dog. In the right foreground is the suggestion of drapery tied back with a tasselled cord. The background is dark and indistinct. Painted c1754-55 Oil on canvas; 124 x 99cms