Completed Dress and Textiles, Portraits: British 18th C, Scotland: Artists and Subjects 49 Who is this Jacobite lady dressed in Murray tartan?

Portrait of a Jacobite Lady
Topic: Other

This unidentified portrait of a Jacobite lady is one of a small number of pre-Proscription* pictures of women wearing tartan.

The tartan, faithfully reproduced in the painting, is Murray of Tullibardine. Can we therefore hazard a guess at the identification of the sitter? She appears to be aged roughly 18–35 and the style and fineness of her jacket indicate a lady/family of wealth. The white rose represents a Jacobite supporter and it was probably painted in the 1740s, most likely 1745–1746.

We cannot be certain that she was a Murray, but several possible contenders for her identity amongst this strongly Jacobite clan are listed in the attachment.

She has also been identified as Jenny Cameron, daughter of Cameron of Lochiel and alleged mistress of Bonnie Prince Charlie.

The collection comments: ‘Traditionally, the sitter is attributed as Flora MacDonald. However, it has been suggested that the lady is Jenny (or Jean) Cameron who might be an amalgamate of more than one lady.’

*The Act of Proscription 1746 banned the wearing of Highland dress (thus tartan) in Scotland and reiterated the Disarming Act, both of which were intended to crush Jacobite support among the Scottish clans following the Jacobite Rising of 1745.

Peter Eslea MacDonald, Entry reviewed by Art UK

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Completed, Outcome

This discussion is now closed. It has not been possible to identify the sitter. The title remains ‘Portrait of a Jacobite Lady’.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the discussion. To anyone viewing this discussion for the first time, please see below for all the comments that led to this conclusion.

48 comments

Jacinto Regalado,

She looks fairly young, probably less than 20. Has the picture been cut down? It looks somewhat truncated, as if it was originally 3/4 or even full length.

Jacinto Regalado,

The dates for Jenny Cameron, of whom there may have been more than one, are apparently not definite, so that is unlikely to help.

Peter Eslea MacDonald,

There are contemprary specimens of this tartan still in the possession of the Murray family at Blair Castle which, whilst not definitive, certainly confirms that family's association with the tartan of the portrait at the time.

Jacinto Regalado,

This does not look like the portrait of a mistress; it is much more likely to be one of a duke's daughter.

Jacinto Regalado,

If this picture was painted ca. 1745-46, the most likely candidates based on age are Jane and Charlotte Murray, daughters of the 2nd Duke of Atholl, and their cousin Amelia Murray, daughter of his brother George. However, the 2nd Duke of Atholl did not join the Jacobite rising of 1745 and took the king's side, while Lord George Murray did join the 1745 rising as he had also joined the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1719. Thus, it is much more likely for this to be a portrait of a member of a militant Jacobite family, which favors Amelia Murray (1732-77).

Peter Eslea MacDonald,

The problem with it being Amelia Murrey is that that would make her roughly 14 when the picture was painted and the sitter looks older IMO.

The fact that the Duke supported the Crown does not mean that his daughters would not have been sympathetic. The Murrays of Ochtertyre had a similar situation where the father was a Hanoverian officer yet had his daughter painted with overtly Jacobite symbolism. https://www.scottishtartans.co.uk/Murray_of_Ochtertyre.pdf

With this in mind, the daughter of the 1st Duke of Atholl, Lady Mary Murray, is possible candidates, especially as herfather was dead by the time of the '45 and herhalf-brother was chief and 2nd Duke of Atholl. Or possibly one of the 2nd Duke's daughters:

Lady Jane Murray (died 1747 so possibly less likely)
Lady Charlotte Murray




Jacinto Regalado,

Since Lady Mary Murray was born in 1720, that might fit. I tend to doubt this is either Jane or Charlotte Murray, since they were both young enough to be still firmly under their father's control, and the 2nd Duke was clearly on the Hanoverian side.

There is a portrait his brother, the Lord George Murray who was Amelia's father, at Blair Castle. Is it known who painted it?

Jacinto Regalado,

While the age of the sitter in our portrait is open to debate, I do not think it is out of the question that it could be a "mature" 14-year-old in grown-up dress. In other words, I think Amelia Murray remains a possibility.

Jacinto Regalado,

Cosmo Alexander, of course, was a Jacobite who fled Scotland after Culloden. Interestingly, he taught the very young Gilbert Stuart, who became one of the foremost American portrait painters, notably of George Washington.

Jacinto Regalado,

One reason I think the sitter could be a very young girl is that there's something about the way her face is painted that vaguely reminds me of the young girls of Balthus, albeit without the Lolita factor. That may well be stretching things too far, but there it is.

Peter Eslea MacDonald,

I know the portrait of Lord George, there is no artist's signature and the archavist at Blair Castle doesn't know who painted it.

Peter Eslea MacDonald,

When I look at the portrait of the Unknown Woman I see a slim sitter painted with the suggestion of a bust and wearing a feminised version of a male Riding Coat. Both elements suggest someone older than 14, especially in the mid-18th century.

Jacinto Regalado,

No doubt it varies, but 14-year-old girls can have a visible bust.

Is anything relevant known about Lady Mary Murray's history around the time the portrait was presumably painted? Her father died in 1724. She did not marry till 1749, so would have been single in 1745-46. Her older brother Lord John Murray had a distinguished military career as a Hanoverian, not a Jacobite. It may be that she had Jacobite sympathies, but there can be little question that Amelia Murray did.

Peter Eslea MacDonald,

I'm afraid I know nothing relevant about Lady Mary Murray's history around the time the portrait was painted. That does not mean it doesn't exist. The family records at Blair Castle are considerable but they have not been digitised.

John Forbes,

We should not rely too heavily upon the tartan. Scottish castles display numerous old family portraits with the sitters wearing a wide assortment of plaids. The codification of tartan patterns as exclusive to specific families was a 19th century phenomenon — cooked up to promote the sale of woolens.

Jacinto Regalado,

It would appear from the linked article by Mr. MacDonald that the tartan in the picture exactly matches the pattern of that of Murray of Tullibardine. However, if Jenny Cameron is still a candidate for the sitter, does that mean she could have worn that tartan pattern?

Jacinto Regalado,

Peter, did you mean that the tartan was worn by others besides the Murrays but not by Jenny Cameron?

Peter Eslea MacDonald,

Yes, by others outside the Murray clan. I'm not saying that Jenny Cameron didn't wear it, just that there's no evidence that she did.

Lou Taylor, Dress and Textiles,

I follow on here from Peter's comment five days ago that this portrait suggests 'someone older than 14, especially in the mid-18th century.' I disagree with this because young girls were dressed as adults certainly by the age of 14 in the 18th century- and indeed for a long time before. The shape of their bodies was thereafter dictated by the heavy boned corsets they wore. The torso in this girl's portrait clearly shows shaping by such a corset. See attachment 1. I also add in 2 portraits of Marie Antoinette,- albeit from the 1770s and Royal, which show her aged 12 and then aged 17, very clearly wearing corsets in both portraits.

Jacinto Regalado,

It is a matter of opinion and thus open to debate, but I still think the sitter could be a girl of 14, which leaves Amelia Murray, daughter of the confirmed and actively Jacobite Lord George Murray, as a prime candidate (though obviously there are others).

Peter Eslea MacDonald,

Intersting, but comparing (relatively) modern physical attributes with those of the mid-18th is not that helpful. I've examined a number of military jackets of the period and most are tiny by today's standards.

Osmund Bullock,

Mr Macdonald, I am puzzled by your apparent certainty that this is the tartan of Murray of Tullibardine during the mid-C18th. I was under the impression that until the C19th the sett of a tartan was at best only indicative of a geographical region (it tending to be common to the weavers of a general area); and that at this period it specifically cannot be said to relate to a particular clan or branch of one, except inasmuch as there might be a preponderance of that clan's members in the area. And is it actually known that the contemporary specimens of the same tartan at Blair Castle relate to Murray family members, or just assumed to be so - and if so, which one(s)?

Osmund Bullock,

Sorry, Mr MacDonald, having read the thread more carefully I find that you have already more than acknowledged this issue; and that you discuss it at length in various extremely interesting and well-researched pieces elsewhere on the internet - particularly the one you have already linked us to (https://bit.ly/2XgD6Li). That in turn links us to a very detailed discussion of the surviving specimens of the tartan at Blair Castle that answers my final questions: https://bit.ly/2ZZR4xR.

I note especially the words you use in your conclusion to the latter: "A logical explanation has been offered for the naming of the pattern as Tullibardine and later Murray of Tullibardine although the evidence for its historic use by that branch is circumstantial at best, whereas the Blair Castle and Dunmore associations indicate a pattern more likely to be connected with Atholl and/or Highland Perthshire in some way."

I also enjoyed and was much informed by this Q&A piece for Collectors Weekly in which you explain with clarity and authority the history of kilts and tartans in more general terms: https://bit.ly/2XLpqrj. I was particularly interested in the wording of the 1746 Proscription (Dress) Act, which as you show did not apply to women; didn't really apply to tartan fabric per se anyway, only its use in specified styles of dress and only in Scotland; and was in any case clearly ignored by many of higher rank in the most public way imaginable (portraits).

Taken together, though, this does leave us with a much less certain idea than I'd imagined from the intro of who this young woman may be. She's self-evidently of high status, and she might be a Murray...but might equally very well not be. The portrait, moreover, might be dated pre-Proscription on stylistic grounds (I am no expert on him)...but there is nothing in the subject and attributes that means it must be, and it could be somewhat later - indeed its small and atypical size (c.18 x 14 in) might suggest something that could easily be concealed...and/or that it could easily be transported back from the continent (if it is indeed by Cosmo Alexander). Has it had any sort of basic technical examination, I wonder, as to canvas type or signs of reduction in size?

Osmund Bullock,

Finally, I am a bit concerned that although the painting is on loan to a public collection, it is actually owned privately. The Drambuie art collection's recent history is complex and multi-layered - I don't imagine you'd be any more thrilled than me if our, and especially your pro bono efforts added significant value to this work, only to have the loan withdrawn and the picture sold on the open market.

Peter Eslea MacDonald,

Dear Osmund, I'm afraid I'm have no knowledge about the actual contruction of the portrait, that's well out of my area of expertise.

I agree about the Drambuie Collection's recent history beng a concern. That said, I think that this portrait is sufficiently important that, if it were ever to be offered for sale, it would a target for the National Gallery. Peter

Osmund Bullock,

Thanks, Peter - I tend to agree on the last point.

LeeAra Anglin,

Hello there!
I've been doing some genealogical research and I've found this photo attached to my very great grandmother Mary Helena MacDonnell (born Archbold - Birth ABT 1616 at: Keppoch, Iverness, Scotland), who was the lady of Alexander MacDonald of Glencoe - murdered at the massacre in 1692.
What are your thoughts on this connection? If there exists a photo of anyone significant to the Massacre of Glencoe, I would love to know where I can find it!
Mòran taing.

Peter Eslea MacDonald,

LeeAra Anglin,

I’m don’t know why your family had this picture. I is often the case with family tradition that unrelated items of as a similar theme are collected for reasons that are not immediately apparent but which later get conflated.

This picture is definitely mid-18th century and cannot be of Mary Helena MacDonnell, b. Arklow, Co. Wicklow, Ireland, not Keppoch, Inverness-shire. Apart from anything, she died a generation before the artist was born.

Peter

Lou Taylor, Dress and Textiles,

I have been e-mailing about the’ Portrait of a Jacobite Lady’ with Prof. Hugh Cheape, now at the National Centre for the Gaelic Language and Culture University of the Highlands and Islands, Inverness and before that on the staff of the National Museum of Scotland. I sent him some of the comments in this discussion and here are his replies, which I pass on with his permission.

June 28th 2021 To Lou Taylor from Huh Cheape.
‘ I have certainly seen this portrait but have never had the leisure to pursue her identity. I don't believe the 'Murray of Tullibardine' identification is helpful. The 'Jenny Cameron' suggestion sounds interesting - the sitter may be being suggested to be in smart riding garb, and a riding crop hanging from her right hand? There were quite a few 'Jenny Cameron' images circulating in print form. I wonder if our sitter lines up with any of these?’

June29th…. continued….’ Possibly what is significant in the tartan is that it seems to be one of the older 'red' tartans with a slightly more complex and dense pattern. Allan Ramsay's well-known portrait of Norman MacLeod of Dunvegan shows him with a plaid of a loosely comparable design. This was pointed out by D. C. Stewart (1974) [The Setts of Scottish Tartans, published by Shepheard-Walwyn] although I'm not sure about his explanation for it being 'Murray of Tullibardine'. I had thought that the riding dress 'message' of the portrait might be more significant, and the accounts of Miss Jenny Cameron seem to agree that she rode at the head of a Cameron contingent to join BPC at Glenfinnan in August 1745. A version of the swirling chat retailed that Jenny became the 'Prince's mistress'. In reality, I understood that she was an older and unmarried lady of Highland dignity! My reference works for this are currently out of reach …. - but I think they would broadly bear out my claims.’

Lou’s view: I would support the view that riding dress is worn in this portrait. See 2 portraits which also show women in riding habits strongly influenced by male dress, as is our Jacobite lady. The influence in my two portraits in evidently from military uniforms.


1: 1745. A young woman of the Fortesque Family of Devon by Thomas Hudson, Yale Centre for British Art, B20001.2.246 New Haven.

2: c 1747, Lady in a Blue Coat, possibly by Robert Harvie, dated 1747, sold at Christies, 12th Feb. 1998, Lot 28.

sorry- Google would not accept these jpegs....

Marcie Doran,

Following up on Lou’s second reference, I wonder if the painter might be Robert Harvie (d. 1781).

The face of this woman reminds me of the way the mystery portrait was painted. She, too, holds a flower. She, too, has curls over her shoulder.

“Mrs George McCall”
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/mrs-george-mccall-84379

I thought that the sitter’s lacy hat was unlikely to be one worn by a rider but came across figure 3 from 1730 in this article by “The Closet Historian”.
http://theclosethistorian.blogspot.com/2015/04/closet-histories-no-46-riding-habits.html

This Joseph Kranzinger work from 1771 shows Marie Antoinette with a near identical colourful strap to her riding crop.

“Marie Antoinette in a red hunting habit”
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marie_Antoinette_in_a_red_hunting_habit-1772.jpg

Louis Musgrove,

I always thought the Jacobite Rose had a yellow centre??? Is this actually a Rose????

Osmund Bullock,

I think you're being too literal, Louis. It's true that the bloom's 'formal double' shape makes it look more like a camellia than a rose; but the foliage is rose-like, and highly-bred camellias of this flower type did not exist in Europe until nearly a century later. Yellow centres are neither here nor there - they are just anthers, and simpler single roses show them, while more complex doubles often don't. But that is all by the by, as the artist was probably not a gardener, and the flower is not a botanical illustration but a symbol. Coupled with the tartan there's no doubt that what's intended is the white rose of the Jacobites.

Louis Musgrove,

Osmund-you explain my point exactly.Blooms like this weren't around in Britiain in 1750ish.Here is what I understand to be the Jacobite rose.Which was very common all over.If the flower is wrong-perhaps the Tartan also???
Perhaps this was painted on the continent at a later date???

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Louis Musgrove,

Peter- What do you make of the flower????

Peter Eslea MacDonald,

Louis, It's not really my area of expertise but I agree that the bloom does not look like a rose, Jacobite or otherwise, but the leaves do. It does not mean that that was not what was intended. Looking at the contemporary portraits of Flora MacDonald, Jenny Cameron of Glendessary and Helen Murray of Ochtertyre, the roses are all different but all are assumed to be Jacobite refeences.

Louis Musgrove,

Peter-thanks for your reply- my thoughts are the flower looks a bit like a Peony.But I am not an expert either.The thing is- when sybolism is so important- if this painting was mid to late 18th century -and done by a Scots person- everything would be CORRECT.Which makes me think it was done early 19th century,by someone removed from events. That just my way of looking at it.

Jacob Simon,

I have read through this discussion begun in 2019 and dormant since 2021.

My sense is that the answer to the discussion question, "Who is this Jacobite lady dressed in Murray tartan?" is that we don't know and that in the present state of knowledge it may prove difficult to make further progress.

Time for closure?