Mary Macdonald, Mrs John Chichester (1738 - 1815)

Sir George Chalmers (Edinburgh c.1720 – London 1791). Oil painting on canvas, Mary MacDonald, Mrs Chichester (1738 - 1815) by Sir George Chalmers (Edinburgh c.1720 – London 1791), signed and dated bottom left: Geo: Chalmers Equs: Baros: / pinxt. 1780. A three-quarter-length portrait of Mary MacDonald, daughter of Major Donald MacDonald (d. 1746) of Ternderich, Inverness was the second wife of Sir John Chichester (1707 - 1783) whom she married in 1764 and they had two sons and five daughters. She sits in a hollow beneath a tree in a moorland landscape facing slightly left and looking out at the spectator. She appears to be dressed as a bride and wears a white satin gown and an overcoat with lace-trimmed sleeves. A whorl of chiffon which is pinned at her breast is tied into her hair and falls around her shoulders as a veil. A sash of blue and yellow tartan tied around her waist holds a red heart-shaped purse with gold filigree decoration which hangs against her left thigh. A shawl of red blue and green tartan, probably of the MacDonald clan, is draped across her left arm and around her back, defiantly worn at a time when the wearing of tartan was still forbidden by Act of Parliament. With her right hand she reaches out towards a plant with white flowers, probably white heather, and holds a posy of flowers in her other hand which rests in her lap. Behind her, dusk is falling and the remains of a sunset is lying low in the sky. Arlington Court, Devon