Elizabeth Lavinia, Lady Norreys
by Sir William Charles Ross, 1846.

This monumental miniature by Ross, 15 inches high, on a single piece of ivory, is one of his largest and most elaborate recorded works.

Elizabeth Lavinia Vernon-Harcourt (1816-1858) a celebrated beauty, was the daughter of George Granville Vernon-Harcourt, Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire, and Lady Elizabeth Bingham, daughter of the Earl of Lucan. In 1835 she married Montagu Bertie, Lord Norreys, eldest son of Montagu Bertie, 5th Earl of Abingdon. The couple had 9 children. Norreys first served as MP from Oxfordshire, then Abingdon. Upon his father's death in 1854, he became the 6th Earl of Abingdon. The Countess died at Wytham Abbey in 1858 at the age of 42.

Set in the original carved giltwood and gesso frame with sanded brass mat. The reverse inscribed on the mahogany mount: "Painted by Sir W. C. Ross R.A. 1846/ Miniature Painter to The Queen/ Eliz.th Lavinia LADY NORREYS/ Afterwards Countess of Abingdon/ wife of MONTAGU 6th EARL."

15 inches high x 10 ½ inches wide. Frame: 20 1/4 inches high x 15 3/4 inches wide.

Sir William Charles Ross, R. A. (1794-1860) was so famous in the year of his death that the Society of Arts mounted a memorial exhibition of Ross' work with over 220 portraits, 40 lent by Queen Victoria. Ross was born into a family of painters who encouraged him. A student of distant cousin Andrew Robertson, Ross exhibited his first miniature at the Royal Academy at the age of 15. His first commission with Queen Victoria was in 1837. He retained the title of royal miniaturist for the rest of his life. The Queen knighted him in 1842. In addition to the British Royal Family Ross' sitters included Empress Eugenie, the King and Queen of the Belgians and Louis Philippe, King of France. His magnificent portrait of the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, 16 ½ inches high, is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Exhibited: Exhibition of the Works of Sir W. C. Ross, R. A., Society of Arts, 1860.
Royal Academy, 1847.