Dorothy Mason, Lady Brownlow (1665-1699/1700)

Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646/9 - London 1723). Oil painting on canvas, Dorothy Mason, Lady Brownlow (1665-1699/1700) by Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646/9 - London 1723), inscribed in gold bottom right: LADY BROWNLOWE WIFE TO SR WM/& MOTHER TO LORD TYRCONNEL./G KNELLER FECT. A full-length portrait of a young woman, facing, her head turned to the left, gazing to the left, her left foot raised on a step on which stands a tall urn containing an orange tree, her left hand rests on the urn and her right hand hold the folds of her blue cloak above her kneel, she has long dark brown hair with a tress falling on her left shoulder, she wears a red dress open at the breast to reveal a white chemise, her blue silk cloak is fastened on the shoulder and falls over her left knee and lies in folds on the ground to the left. She is standing on a terrace with an opening to the left revealing a formal garden with a fountain, poplar trees and a cloudy sky. Dorothy Mason was born in May 1664, at Sutton, Surrey, the daughter of Sir Richard Mason (c.1633-1685) and Anne Margaret Long (c.1637-1711). She married Sir William Brownlow 4th Bt.(1665-1702) son of Sir Richard Brownlow 2nd Bt (1628-1668) and Elizabeth Freke (1634-1684). Described as 'really deserving everybody's love'.Her children were: 1.Anne Brownlow (1694-17790) married Sir Richard Cust 2.Richard Brownlow (1689-1690) 3.John Brownlow, 1st and last Viscount Tyrconnel (1690-1754) 4.Dorothy Brownlow (b.1695) She died before May 1700. Her will was probated in May 1700. After her premature death, her sorrowing husband gave her an immense funeral procession and commemorated her with a monument by William Stanton (1639-1705) in St Nicholas Church, Sutton, in Surrey. dismissed by William Hone as 'a sort of hasty pudding, garnished with slices of gingerbread'. The monument is now completely concealed by the church organ.The design for the monument is in the collection of the V&A Museum. Belton House, Lincolnshire (Accredited Museum)