Bust, turned to the left. She is dressed in a black silk dress,
trimmed with lace, and having a hood over her white widow's cap.
Round her neck is a locket. On canvas, 2 ft. 6 in. high.
This portrait represents her as a very old woman, and was probably
painted not many years before her death, in 1788, at the age of
eighty-eight. She was the eldest daughter of Bernard Granville,
grandson of Sir Bevil Granville, the Royalist leader, and was born
in 1700. She was educated under the care of her uncle, Lord
Lansdowne, and married in 1717 Alexander Pendarves. She was
intimate with Swift, through whom she became acquainted with her
second husband, Dr. Delany. After his death she spent most of her
time with her friend, the Duchess of Portland, and when she died,
George III., who, with the Queen, became very intimate with the old
lady, gave her a pension and a house at Windsor. She occupied her
declining years in copying flowers in paper, and executed as many
as 980. She died in 1788. Her autobiography was published in 1861;
it contains a great many reminiscences of the court and family of
George III.
This picture first brought Opie into notice. A replica painted for
the Countess of Bute is in the National Portrait Gallery.