Bust, marble, of a Lady (probably Sarah Sophia Child-Villiers, Countess of Jersey), by William Behnes, English, signed and dated 1827

The subject, probably the Countess of Jersey, looks slightly downward and to her half-right. The hair is parted in the middle and hangs in ringlets over the temples, down the back of neck and onto the left shoulder. The breast is draped.

Purchased

Purchased from Messrs Kerin, 15 Davies Street, London, in 1949, for £20.

Thanks to a note from Anna Moore, the subject has been probably identified as Sarah Sophia Child-Villiers, Countess of Jersey. Anna Moore notes (email to Holly Trusted of 26 October 2017):' I found a reference to a bust of the Countess of Jersey by Behnes, dated London 1827, in a list of busts at Middleton Park (another family home of the Jersey family). Another bust listed was of her husband, George Child-Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, by Nollekens, dated 1807. This is now in the Government Art Collection, with the following provenance note: ‘Earl of Jersey Collection; purchased from Gerald Kerin 1949’. I noticed that your bust was also sold to the V&A in 1949 by Messrs Kerin. I think that Kerin must have bought them both from the 9th Earl of Jersey at the time of his gift of Osterley to the National Trust. I haven’t found any documentation for this, but I’ll let you know if I do.'

The sitter for this marble bust was probably Sarah Sophia Child-Villiers, Countess of Jersey (1785-1867). It is likely to be one of the busts Behnes exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1827. A bust of the Countess's husband, George Child-Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, had been executed by Joseph Nollekens in 1807 (now in the Government Art Collection). Both busts were fomerly at Middleton Park, West Yorkshire, one of the family homes of the Earls of Jersey.

William Behnes (c.1795-1864) was the son of a Hanoverian pianoforte maker living in London. Behnes commenced studies at the Royal Academy and probably began work as an independent sculptor around 1819. He was very successful and well respected for the execution of his busts. Behnes exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy between 1815 and 1863, but died almost destitute, having been declared bankrupt in 1861.

A.66-1949