Henrietta Cavendish, Lady Huntingtower (d.1717/18)

Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646/9 - London 1723). Oil painting on canvas, Lady Henrietta Cavendish, Lady Huntingtower (d.1717/18) by Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646/9 - London 1723). 1715. Inscribed, bottom left, in yellow: Lady Huntingtour. A full-length portrait of a young woman, turned slightly to the right, head turned to the left, gazing at the spectator, dressed in a riding habit with a jacket of cream-coloured camlet lined in green and trimmed with gold braid, the horizontal braiding echoing the fashionable furbelow and with a matching skirt. She holds her riding crop in her right hand, her left hand on her hip, a horse in the background to right. It was customary for English ladies to wear a version of the masculine suit both for riding, walking and travelling. She also wears a short full-bottomed wig, and the fashionable male black hat trimmed with white feathers. The wide, buttoned cuffs and matching pocket flaps are prominent masculine features as is the fine fringed linen cravat. She was the illegitimate daughter of the 2nd Duke of Devonshire and his mistress, Mrs Heneage whose portrait is also at Ham. She married Lionel, Lord Huntingtower, eldest son of the 3rd Earl of Dysart in 1706. Ham House, Surrey (Accredited Museum)