"Mrs John Clevland of Tapley" by Joshua Reynolds, Oil on canvas, 71 x 59 cm, Collection of Burton Art Gallery and Museum, Bideford, Devon. Accession number: 1991.205. Provenance: on permanent loan from H. J. I. Meredith, Esq. There were two John Clevlands of Tapeley Park in the parish of Westleigh, near Bideford, Devon: John I Clevland (1706-1763), who married 3 times, in 1729, in 1743 and in 1747. His son John II Clevland (1734-1817) married once, in 1782 to Elizabeth Stevens (1727-1792), who would have been aged 55 at the time of her marriage. The sitter is a young woman, so cannot be of her. It is thus likely to be one of John I's wives. He married the first one in 1729, when Reynolds was aged 6, and she died before 1743, when Reynolds was aged 20. John I's 2nd wife he married in 1743 and she was dead before 1747, when Reynolds was only 24. John I's 3rd wife, Sarah Shuckburgh (d.1764), who had 4 children by him, he married in 1747. This 3rd wife is thus perhaps the sitter.
<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Joshua_Reynolds" class="extiw" title="w:en:Joshua Reynolds"><span title="English painter (1723-1792)">Joshua Reynolds</span></a>
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