Tart of the Week: Sophia Musters

Many smitten men through time have sung the praises and dangers of a beautiful face.  One of the legendary beautiful faces of 18th century England was that of Mrs. Sophia Musters whom many found hard to resist.

Sophia Heywood was born in 1758, her father being the governor of Plymouth she was thrown into the path many aristocratic young ladies were forced into.  By the age of eighteen her parents had found Sophia a husband who was convenient to them, John Musters.  John was rich, good looking, and not too much older than Sophia.  Sadly Sophia had feelings for George Pitt who, as a younger son, was not a convenient marriage for the Heywoods. Sophia and John married in 1776.  A child was born to the couple every year for the next four years, sadly though, their last daughter did not make it past infancy.  Life at their country home, Colwick Hall was quiet.  Both John and Sophia were patrons of the arts.  Many portraits during this time exist of both husband and wife as well as John's various horses and Sophia's beloved spaniels, giving the outside world the idea that the Musters were in isolated bliss.

Fanny Burney described Sophia as "most beautiful, but most unhappy" as well as being the toast of the town.  John was happy being a country gentleman but Sophia flourished in a metropolitan environment.  She was adorable yet swore like Lady Lade.  The men couldn't stay away from the charming Mrs. Musters and who was she to deny them the attention?  Once, at a ball, a man approached Sophia with a glass of chalk and water and used this clever pickup line: "Chalk is thought to be a cure for the heartburn; I wonder whether it will cure the heartache?"* No word on whether the line worked.  It wasn't long before Sophia threw caution to the wind and dove into numerous love affairs.  There was and Penniston Lamb who would go on to marry Caroline St Jules (The illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Devonshire and Lady Bess Foster) and also her first love, George Pitt.  Rumors also surfaced about other men as well such as the Prince of Wales (who wasn't he attached to!) and even Joshua Reynolds who spent man hours with the beauty behind closed doors, either painting her or giving her private painting lessons. 

As with all 18th century aristocratic affairs, infidelity never stays secret for long.  John was furious over the discovery of being cuckolded, he took an artistic revenge and had Stubbs paint Sophia out of their portrait in front of Colwick Hall.  As commenter, Jennifer pointed out in a past post, " It was only in the late '80s that restorers realized what was behind the layers of paint and restored it to it's original form."  How ancient Egyptian of him! 

Despite the jealousy and deceit earlier in the marriage, somewhere down the road the couple kissed and made up.  Perhaps once Sophia got the wild child out of her system and John felt he could forgive her, they realized they could settle down to a contented marriage.  When Sophia died at 61 in 1819 John was heartbroken.  In her memory, he commission a tomb sculpture portraying a weeping woman so that someone will eternally morn the beautiful Mrs. Musters.


*I've seen other texts saying she had said this to the man, oh gossip!

George Stubbs Equestrian Portraits

There is perhaps one thing that comes to mind with the mention of the artist George Stubbs which would be the horse.  Like Monet with his flowers, Stubbs' had a fascination with his four-legged muses, and he was in good company.  Many aristocrats (the same people who commissioned his paintings) shared Stubbs' love of horses and requested their prize stallions and mares be immortalized.  Anyone who has visited the National Gallery in London can't miss Stubbs' portrait of Whistlejacket, the Marquess of Rockingham's prized racehorse, painted against a neutral background in order to not take away from the beauty of the horse.  The painting is placed at the end of the gallery so you see it from far away, adding more majesty to the stallion and more credit to Stubbs' talent.

Stubb's talent was not limited to horses, or even the many cherished pets he portrayed.  Overall, he was fantastic at portraying nature and his sitters' relationship to nature.  Those who commissioned Stubbs for portraits were the aristocrats who tended to trade city life and the gaming tables for their majestic country estates.  Portraits of sitters riding about their property do two essential things: prove the sitter is in touch with nature and display their wealth by portraying their ability to own thoroughbreds and large vasts of land.

Joseph Smyth Esquire, Lieutenant of Whittlebury Forest, Northamptonshire, on a Dapple Grey Horse, c.1762-64

Countess of Conings by Livery of Charlton, c1760

Laetitia, Lady Lade, 1793

John and Sophia Musters riding at Colwick Hall, 1777 

William Anderson with Two Saddle-Horses, 1793

Baron De Robeck Riding A Bay Hunter, 1791

Self-Portrait, 1782

Stubbs' lack of formal training adds a sense of folk art to the portrayals which make them all the more charming and appropriate to hang in those country homes.  Although there is a sense of portraying the animal perfectly, which is lost on other aspects of the painting, that same painstaking skill is used in rendering the sitter's face.  The true joy of painting can be seen in the background, in which Stubbs used a whole different technique in order to capture the landscape.  His ability to capture all these varying elements easily transforms viewers into the work. I particularly enjoy his equestrian portraits because you feel as if you could just ride away into the painting with the sitters.

How Many Mooses did the Duke of Richmond Have?

Anyone lucky enough to have been to the Hunterian Museum may have come across George Stubb's painting of a moose entitled, The Duke of Richmond’s First Bull Moose. Which begs the question: just how many mooses (moose? meese?) did Charlie have? Was he just being pompous and assuming he'd be acquiring more with a painting title like that?

Like any exotic animal from far-away lands, moose were a highly-prized object for the English nobleman's menagerie. When General Guy Carlton sent the Duke of Richmond a moose from Canada the anatomist, William Hunter called on the artist George Stubbs for a favor. Hunter's main interest was in humans but he seemed to have some natural scientific curiosity with the moose and its relationship to the elk indigenous to the British Isles. He commissioned Stubbs to paint Richmond's new moose for study. Stubbs included mature moose antlers in the painting since Richmond's did not have them. The painting goes to show just how much wasn't known about moose. Stubbs painted it in a rocky craggy mountain landscape, not knowing the specific habitat.

Three years later Hunter got word that a second moose was now in Richmond's possession. This time he grabbed some friends and his painting and went to see this second bull moose in person. Comparing the two moose caused him to make a second commission with Stubbs, a drawing entitled The Duke of Richmond’s Second Bull Moose.

One moose sounds to me like it would be enough! Two moose is a tad selfish. I can't tell you if Richmond took any more antlered wards in but I have a feeling he may have stopped at two (males, at least), just because his friend Hunter would have come along, dragging Stubbs behind, for yet another photo op with the new moose in town.

Immortal Companion: Richard Cosway

Richard Cosway is best known as the leading miniature portrait artist of the Georgian era. He was also known for being married to the fashionable Maria Cosway (whom Thomas Jefferson was in love with at one point) and for being the definition of a macaroni. His white hair was arranged in a high point and Cosway was not adversed to wearing the typical macaroni makeup and colorful clothing. Despite his foppish exterior, Cosway was well respected, a favourite artist of the Prince of Wales, and a founding member of the Royal Academy. Like Gainsborough and Reynolds, anyone who was anyone would have Cosway paint their miniature.

So when it came time for Cosway to commision a painting of his beloved he chose the leading animal portraitist, George Stubbs. Of course, the macroni had the most fashionable type of pet, a tiny white dog. Can't you just see the flamboyant Cosway walking through the streets cradling this little white puff ball? His pup is portrayed with every enlightened sensitibility. Romping in the Rousseau wilderness, he is distracted by a moth and poses in an alert stance with his focus on the airborn insect. Here we have an example of a portrait that totally focuses on the dog and not the dog's owner; an example of the value put on pets. And if your pet just happened to be of the upmost fashion, then it really couldn't hurt to put your dog on display!