CIRCLE OF SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, PRA (1723-1792) PORTRAIT OF A LADY, POSSIBLY ELIZABETH HARTLEY IN THE ROLE OF JANE SHORE IN NICHOLAS ROWE'S `THE TRAGEDY OF JANE SHORE` (1714) Seated, half length, wearing a blue and white dress, looking at a portrait miniature in her left hand 73.5 x 61cm. * Mrs. Elizabeth Hartley (1751-1824) was a well known actress of the London stage from 1772-1780. In 1772 she played the role of Jane Shore in Nicholas Rowe's 1714 play The Tragedy of Jane Shore and was painted in this role by Sir Joshua Reynolds the following year (Mannings Cat. No: 856, Fig: 1082). She was described as having fine, perfect features with a long nose and small well-formed mouth together with long auburn hair. Mrs. Sarah Siddons also played this role two decades later and a silhouette portrait of her playing this role, acting in this pose, is held at The British Museum. ++ Lined; retouching; some craquelure