Margaret Maskelyne, Lady Clive (1733-1817)

Margaret Maskelyne, Lady Clive, painted in 1770, was the wife of Robert Clive of India, the controversial military commander who had built British power in Bengal through the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and its aftermath. Lady Clive married Robert Clive in India in 1753 and returned with him to England as one of the wealthiest couples in the country, the target of parliamentary investigations into Clive's acquisition of Indian wealth. Dance's portrait of Margaret depicts her at the height of the Clives' wealth and the beginning of the parliamentary scrutiny that would dog her husband until his death in 1774. The portrait documents the Indian fortunes that transformed Georgian society.

Dance presents Lady Clive with the elegant restraint appropriate to a woman of her social position, the costume and accessories reflecting the wealth that Clive's Indian campaigns had brought the family. The smooth finish and cool palette are characteristic of Dance's female portraits.