Sutherland Album
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Object Type
This is an album of watercolours, sketches and prints by various artists, accompanied by handwritten copies of poems and extracts from letters. Such albums were often called 'commonplace books', in which one recorded passages to be especially remembered.
People
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This album contains works by amateur artists who were related to one other. They include Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland in her own right (her various incarnations through marriage were Lady Gower, Marchioness of Stafford and, finally, Countess-Duchess of Sutherland), and her friend, the amateur artist Henry William Bunbury (1750-1811). The Countess of Sutherland's nieces were Elizabeth Howard, 5th Duchess of Rutland (whose death is commemorated in a poem in the album), and Caroline Howard, Lady Cawdor, who also drew works included here. Other works are by the Countess of Harewood, whose son married a niece of Elizabeth and Caroline Howard, and Lady Caroline Georgiana Howard. There is also a print of their niece, Lady Mary Howard, inscribed 'The Rose of Castle Howard', and a drawing of Castle Howard, the Yorkshire seat of one branch of the Howard family. Even the poetry and extracts reflect family connections, including a poem by Georgina, Duchess of Devonshire, grandmother of the two younger Howard girls.
It is unclear who compiled the album. Clues to its formation might be the front cover, signed 'M Rutland', and the back, which shows Belvoir Castle, the Leicestershire seat of the Earls of Rutland. But authorship apart, this is a wonderfully random collection of works by amateurs united by ties of family and affection.
