Mrs Burbridge of Staverton Hall, Northamptonshire

This portrait of Mrs Burbridge of Staverton Hall depicts a member of the Northamptonshire county gentry. Dance's practice extended beyond London to serve the provincial gentry who desired fashionable portraiture for their country houses. Dance's portraits combined the formal conventions of Grand Manner portraiture with a cooler, more austere palette and sculptural figure treatment that reflected his years studying in Rome under the influence of Pompeo Batoni.

The gentlewoman's portrait is rendered with appropriate provincial elegance, Dance's academic technique adapted to the tastes and expectations of the English country gentry.