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Some Old Time Beauties - After Portraits by the English Masters, with Embellishment and Comment by Thomson Willing
page 49 of 58 (84%)
by Spooner. His principal picture of Elizabeth is not so attractive
as the picture of her sister; the body is too constrained and
symmetrically formal; the dress is very low and edged with lace, some
flowers resting on her bosom. The neck and breast have not the suave
grace of the sister's. This has been engraved in mezzo-tint by
Houston. Another portrait by Cotes shows her with fur on the dress. He
also painted a portrait of Kitty in a low dress sprigged with flowers,
with a sash, and ribbons at the back of the head. This has a wooded
landscape background. Below the print of this picture is engraved
these lines:--

"This youngest of the Graces here we view
So like in Beauty to the other two
Whoe'er compares their Features and their Frame
Will know at once that Gunning is her name."

There is an engraved picture of the two sisters together--based on
Cotes's portrayals--called "The Hibernian Sisters." Maria is sitting
on the left, looking toward the right, with a dog on her lap; the
younger is on the right, looking to the front, and holds a fan in her
hand. In the background is a garden wall. Cupids surmount the
picture. The inscription is in this fashion:--

"Hibernia long with spleen beheld
Her Favorite Toasts by ours excelled.
Resolved to outvie Britannia's Fair
By her own Beauties,--sent a pair."

Reynolds painted them both, in 1753; but he failed to give them the
charm we would expect. Unless Sir Joshua's engravers belie him, he did
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