The Marquess of Tavistock

This is one of my favourite portraits. The Marquess was painted in the West Hall of Woburn Abbey (the family seat of the Dukes of Bedford), standing by a William Kent table. Henrietta, then Marchioness of Tavistock, took a great interest in the progress of the portrait, having high expectations that I would create something very special. Lord Tavistock could not have been more hospitable, even arranging for me to be put in a different bedroom for each of my many visits to Woburn.

Whilst Lady Tavistock allowed me to choose the pose and background, she firmly suggested that I should include a small reference to the ‘Mouse House’, her own bolthole in Newmarket, and a reproduction of a sketch of this appears in the background.

The portrait now hangs in the Dukes’ Corridor at Woburn Abbey.