Dorothea Bland (1762–1816), 'Mrs Jordan', as 'Peggy' in 'The Country Girl'

Dorothea Jordan, born Dorothea Bland, was the most celebrated comic actress of her generation, a performer whose warmth, energy, and naturalness on stage made her beloved by London audiences for over thirty years. George Romney's 1787 portrait depicts her as Peggy in The Country Girl, William Wycherley's play adapted by David Garrick — a role that suited her particular gifts for vivacious, natural comedy. Mrs Jordan's personal life was as dramatic as her professional career: she was the long-term companion of the Duke of Clarence (later William IV), with whom she had ten children, before being abruptly abandoned in 1811 for dynastic reasons. Romney was deeply interested in theatrical subjects, and his portrait of Mrs Jordan belongs to the tradition of theatrical portraiture that recorded Georgian actors in their most celebrated roles. The Waddesdon Manor collection provides this portrait with a distinguished context among Rothschild-collected British and French art.

Romney paints Mrs Jordan with the animated energy that characterized his best theatrical subjects, capturing the vivacity that made her famous. The theatrical costume is handled with more descriptive attention than Romney usually gave to dress, because the role — not the person — is equally the portrait's subject. The background is kept loosely atmospheric to focus on the figure's expressive presence.