Lady Elizabeth Jones

Date1675-1690

After work by Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680)

Engraver Richard Tompson fl. 1659 - 1693

OriginEngland, London

MediumMezzotint and line engraving

DimensionsOH: 13 5/16" x OW: 10 1/16"
Plate trimmed at bottom, Plate W: 9 7/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1984-206

DescriptionCounterproof, text in reverse, the lower margin reads: "The Lady Elizabeth Jones/ P. Leij Pinxit./ R. Tompson excudit."Label TextLady Elizabeth Jones (1665-1758) was the eldest daughter of Richard Earl of Ranalegh. In the 1670s, when the portrait upon which this print was based, she was rumored to be the mistress of King Charles II. She married the John FitzGerald, Earl of Kildare in 1684, a member of the Irish peerage, giving her title of Countess of Kildare.

This print is reversed because it is a counterproof. A counterproof a print taken off of a freshly printed proof which enables the printmaker to assess the condition of the engraved copperplate.ProvenanceBefore 1984, William G. Hodges [1945-2014] (New Kent, VA); 1984-present, purchased by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).