Arthur Devis (1712-1787) – James, Ist Duke of Leinster and his wife Emily UPDATE: THIS MADE £262,000
This 1753 painting by Arthur Devis (1712-1787) shows James, Ist Duke of Leinster and his wife Emily seated in the grounds of Carton – a garden said to have become the model on which all later gardens in Ireland were styled. Emily, who played an important role in the development of the house and estate, holds designs for a new bridge. She created the Chinese Room and the shell cottage on the estate, The grounds were re-designed in the naturalistic style of Capability Brown, incorporating an informal park, artificial lake and island, a kitchen garden and hothouses.
Emily Lennox married James FitzGerald, 20th Earl of Kildare and the future 1st Duke of Leinster at Richmond House, the London residence of her parents. Those parents, the Duke and Duchess of Richmond, opposed the match at first, preferring an English man. The wedding was magnificent but it was rumoured, incorrectly, that her parents had not given her a shilling. In fact she got £10,000, the same as her two younger sisters. The marriage was a happy one and they had 19 children. The work, from the collection of the current Duke of Leinster, comes up at Bonhams Old Master Paintings sale in London on July 4 estimated at £80,000-120,000.
