John Smart, Portrait of Mary Bertie, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven, ca. 1768

Chicago:

Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, “John Smart, Portrait of Mary Bertie, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven, ca. 1768,” catalogue entry in Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan, The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, vol. 4, ed. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025), https://doi.org/10.37764/8322.5.1510.

MLA:

Marcereau DeGalan, Aimee. “John Smart, Portrait of Mary Bertie, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven, ca. 1768,” catalogue entry. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan. The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, edited by Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, vol. 4, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. doi: 10.37764/8322.5.1510.

See the artist’s biography in volume 4.

Mary Bertie, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven (née Panton, before 1735–1793), served as Mistress of the Robes to Queen Charlotte from 1761 until her death in 1793. During her lifetime, she sat for portraits by some of the period’s most renowned artists, including Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) (Fig. 1), Sir Thomas Hudson (1701–1779), and, on at least two occasions, John Smart.¹ The present miniature, dated 1763—likely a later addition due to water damage of the original inscription— represents a significant evolution in Smart’s style when compared to his other portrait of Ancaster with the same date (Fig. 2). While the other Smart miniature displays the characteristic beady-eyed, mask-faced appearance seen in Smart’s early work, such as his portrait of Elizabeth Maria Yates, the Nelson-Atkins portrait of Ancaster shows a marked progression toward a more refined technique, where the sitter’s character begins to emerge more vividly. This portrait serves as a transitional piece, bridging Smart’s early and mature styles.

Mary Bertie’s early life remains somewhat obscure, though she was likely the illegitimate daughter of Thomas Panton, Master of the King’s Running Horses at Newmarket, and his mistress. Described by the diarist Fanny Burney as “easy, obliging, unaffected, and well-bred,”² Mary became the second wife of Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, on November 27, 1750.³ Their marriage, which produced five children—including Robert Bertie, 4th Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, who is represented by a miniature by Richard Cosway (1742–1821) in the Nelson-Atkins collection—was marked by Peregrine’s rise in civil and military appointments.⁴ However, Prime Minister Lord North’s assessment of Peregrine as “an egregious blockhead” underscores the challenges of his ascent, despite the wealth and social connections Mary brought to the union.⁵ They lived a prosperous life, and Mary Bertie died in Naples, Italy, in 1793.

As Mistress of the Robes, Mary Bertie played a central role in the court of Queen Charlotte, advising on matters of dress and ceremony, and she even recommended Sarah Tuting, her father’s mistress, as wet nurse for the future King William IV.⁶ This position not only facilitated her close proximity to the queen but also her influence within the royal household.

In this intimate portrait, Smart depicts the duchess, then in her late thirties, against a backdrop of a pink and gray cloudy sky. She wears a pink dress with a white lace overlay at her sleeve, accented by green bows at her chest and shoulder. Her dark hair is elegantly upswept with a braided coil at the crown and adorned with what appears to be a strand of white pearls. The composition around the top of her head remains unresolved, however, and may be due to an amended hairstyle or the result of water damage, which has impacted other areas of the composition, notably areas around the signature and date. Notwithstanding these compromised areas, the portrayal of Ancaster suggests a more advanced stylistic approach than Smart’s earlier works, supporting a possible date of around 1768.

This portrait contrasts with the more formal and public images of the duchess by Reynolds and Hudson, offering a more personal and introspective depiction of Mary Bertie in her role as Duchess of Ancaster. Here, Smart captures not just her status but her individuality, providing a glimpse into the life of a woman who navigated the complexities of her position with grace and resilience.

Notes

1. See also the various other portraits of Mary, Duchess of Ancaster by Sir Joshua Reynolds dated ca. 1757/9, 1763, and 1765–58, in David Mannings and Martin Postle, Sir Joshua Reynolds: A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000), 1:86, nos. 163–66; and 2:221, 318, 336, nos. 320, 676, 743.

2. Fanny Burney, Diary and Letters of Madame d’Arblay, ed. C. Barrett (London: Chatto and Windus, 1876), 1:106.

3. For this information as well as information about the duke’s first wife, Elizabeth Blundell, who died in 1743, see George E. Cokayne et al., eds., The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed. (Gloucester, UK: Alan Sutton, 2000), 1:128. All genealogical information in this entry comes from this source.

4. The children of General Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, and Mary Bertie (née Panton) include: Mary Catharine Bertie (1754–1767); Peregrine Thomas Bertie, Marquess of Lindsey (1755–1758); Robert Bertie, 4th Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven (1756–1779); Priscilla Barbara Elizabeth Bertie, Baroness Willoughby de Eresby (1761–1828); and Lady Georgiana Charlotte Bertie (1764–1838).

5. Lord North quoted in Cokayne et al., Complete Peerage, 1:128; Cokayne attributes the quote to “Sir John de Blaquiere, 18 Nov., 1776. Harcourt Papers, vol. x, p. 206,” although this source has not been confirmed.

6. “Monumental Members of the Bertie Family,” The Gentleman’s Magazine 78 (January 1808): 21.

Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, by 1965;

Their gift to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1965.

John Smart, Mary, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven, 1763 (with verso inscription 1750), watercolor on ivory, unknown dimensions, sold at Christie’s, London, “Centuries of Style: Silver, European Ceramics, Portrait Miniatures and Gold Boxes,” November 26, 2014, lot 401.

John Smart, Lady Ancaster, 1773, watercolor on ivory, unknown dimensions, sold at Christie’s, London, “The Important Collection of Objects of Art,” May 12, 1904, lot 796.

John Smart—Miniaturist: 1741/2–1811, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, December 9, 1965–January 2, 1966, no cat., as Mary, Duchess of Ancaster.

The Starr Foundation Collection of Miniatures, The Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, December 8, 1972–January 14, 1973, no cat., no. 88, as Mary, Duchess of Ancaster.

John Smart: Virtuoso in Miniature, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, December 21, 2024–January 4, 2026, no cat., as Portrait of Mary Bertie, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven.

Daphne Foskett, John Smart: The Man and His Miniatures (London: Cory, Adams, and Mackay, 1964), 61, as Mary, Duchess of Ancaster.

Ross E. Taggart, The Starr Collection of Miniatures in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, 1971), no. 88, p. 36, (repro.), as Mary, Duchess of Ancaster.