Yale Center for British Art, Bequest of Mrs. Harry Payne Bingham
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1987.6.2
Gallery Label:
Painted when Thomas Gainsborough was working in Bath, this portrait was most likely commissioned to celebrate the marriage in 1765 of Mary Little of Bathford, Somerset, to Robert Carr, a mercer of Ludgate Hill, London, who assumed the title of Sir Robert Carr, Baronet, in 1777. Gainsborough, whose father was a weaver and whose sisters were milliners, revels here in the depiction of his sitter’s sumptuous attire. His feathery rendering of the various fabrics and textures of the dress is especially fitting, as Mary Little’s new husband was a prosperous fabric merchant, highly dependent in his business dealings upon the demand for new silks, lace, and other profitable trends in Georgian fashion. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2022
