Henrietta Cavendish Holles (1694–1755), Countess of Oxford

This 1714 portrait of Henrietta Cavendish Holles, Countess of Oxford, depicts one of the greatest heiresses of her generation. Her marriage to Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and collector, brought together two of the most significant inheritances in England: the Cavendish Holles estates and the Harleian collections of manuscripts and rare books that would eventually form part of the British Library's foundation collections. Henrietta's own identity as a patron and collector was shaped by this dual inheritance, and her portrait by Kneller captures her at the moment of marriage into the family whose collecting ambitions her fortune would help sustain.

The portrait presents the Countess with appropriate aristocratic elegance, Kneller's studio rendering the fashionable costume and composed features with the practiced skill of his most experienced period.