CIRCLE OF THOMAS HUDSON (BRITISH 1701-1779)PORTRAIT OF MARY BARNARDISTON (1709-1788) HOLDING A SPRAY OF FLOWERSOil on canvas, feigned ovalLater inscribed with sitter's name and dates (lower left)76.5 x 64cm (30 x 25 in.)Catalogue Note:Mary Barnardiston, née Jennens, (1709-1788) was the daughter of Susanna Jennens. It is said that they worked on the needlework bed together; a letter, undated but possibly July 1731, to Mary Jennens from Mary Prescott, her aunt, shows that the design of the hangings of the bed was a collaborative effort between the three women: I have begun a pattern for the curtains of the bed, and have made some alteration in your pattern of the valens, which will do very well, and may be added to her work when she sees it, as I have altered your work, if she likes it. From: Sir George Sitwell, A brief history of Weston Hall, Northamptonshire, and of the families that possessed it, London, privately printed 1927, page 24