Oval Portrait Of Mrs Jordan, Prince Regent's Mistress

A late 18th Century oval portrait of Mrs Dorothea Jordan, attributed to John Hoppner. This delicate sketch in pencil and chalk depicts Mrs Jordan looking at the artist. 

This has a wonderful provence - Lady Victoria Wemyss, Bowes Lyon. A.Guild. Thence by descent.

Born: Dorothea Bland 1761 - 1816.

Dora Jordan was a famous Georgian actress renowned for her comic roles. She was born to an Irish father and Welsh mother in London. Her first role was at age fifteen in Dublin. 

In 1790 she became mistress to Prince Regent later George  IV and bore him ten children. She was attacked by cartoonist James Gillray as being a loose woman. In 1794 she gave birth to a son, baptised George Fitz Clarence - Fitz meaning son of. In 1797 the King offered his son Bushy Park, a mansion, set in thousands of acres of parkland, it was a perfect family home for fifteen years. George ended the relationship in 1811 when his father was declared mad. George needed to marry an heiress. He had never been good with money and Dora's money had kept the large family afloat through her stage work. To escape her creditors, she fled to France where she died in poverty. 

John Hoppner 1758 - 1810.

He was an English portrait painter influenced by Reynolds. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1780. He painted the rich and fashionable people of the time.