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Source Description
Daniel Gardner built a lucrative career that was based on fashionable portraiture, especially small-scale works in pastel, often in oval formats with landscape backgrounds. Executed in this format, this portrait is one of many by the artist that depicted children, his primary subjects. Here, the young Cropley Ashley-Cooper, later the 6th Earl of Shaftesbury, gazes fondly at his older sister, Mary Anne, who holds his hand and encircles his shoulders in close affection. Gardner took advantage of the special optical properties of pastel, whose minute, irregular particles reflect light diffusely, allowing an unparalleled velvety brilliance.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
169320
label
Cropley Ashley-Cooper (Later 6th Earl of Shaftesbury) with His Sister Mary Anne Ashley-Cooper, Later Lady Sturt of Crichel
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
169320
contentType
drawing
title
Cropley Ashley-Cooper (Later 6th Earl of Shaftesbury) with His Sister Mary Anne Ashley-Cooper, Later Lady Sturt of Crichel
description
Daniel Gardner built a lucrative career that was based on fashionable portraiture, especially small-scale works in pastel, often in oval formats with landscape backgrounds. Executed in this format, this portrait is one of many by the artist that depicted children, his primary subjects. Here, the young Cropley Ashley-Cooper, later the 6th Earl of Shaftesbury, gazes fondly at his older sister, Mary Anne, who holds his hand and encircles his shoulders in close affection. Gardner took advantage of the special optical properties of pastel, whose minute, irregular particles reflect light diffusely, allowing an unparalleled velvety brilliance.
date
c. 1776
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q80076433
creators
61772
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 50.7 x 40.2 cm (19 15/16 x 15 13/16 in.)
cul
England, 18th century
accession
2011.193
Source extras
tec
pastel with black and red chalk and graphite
tombstone
Cropley Ashley-Cooper (Later 6th Earl of Shaftesbury) with His Sister Mary Anne Ashley-Cooper, Later Lady Sturt of Crichel, c. 1776. Daniel Gardner (British, c. 1750–1805). Pastel with black and red chalk and graphite; sheet: 50.7 x 40.2 cm (19 15/16 x 15 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Trust, 2011.193
supportMaterials
description
white laid paper
collection
DR - British
didYouKnow
This pastel was presumably commissioned from Daniel Gardner by the children's father, who was himself the subject of a portrait by the artist.
citations
citation
Libson, Lowell. <em>British Art</em>. Exh. Cat. London: Lowell Libson, 2012.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 42-43
citation
Williamson, George Charles. <em>Daniel Gardner, Painter in Pastel and Gouache: A Brief Account of His Life and Works</em>. London: John Lane, 1921.
page_number
Reproduced: between pp. 54-55
citation
<em>Commemorative Catalogue of the Exhibition of British Art. </em>Exh. Cat. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1934.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 161, no. 665
citation
Lemonedes, Heather. <em>British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 32-33, 146, no. 6; Reproduced: p. 33
citation
Jeffares, Neil. <em>Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800</em>. Online, updated 2019.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 8, no. J.338.1637
creditline
Severance and Greta Millikin Trust
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:42:10.962000
sourceId
169320
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - British
med
pastel with black and red chalk and graphite
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
d9e84108fd3d1540