Cropley Ashley-Cooper (Later 6th Earl of Shaftesbury) with His Sister Mary Anne Ashley-Cooper, Later Lady Sturt of Crichel

About the Artwork

Daniel Gardner built a lucrative career that was based on fashionable portraiture, especially small-scale works in pastel, often in oval formats with landscape backgrounds. Executed in this format, this portrait is one of many by the artist that depicted children, his primary subjects. Here, the young Cropley Ashley-Cooper, later the 6th Earl of Shaftesbury, gazes fondly at his older sister, Mary Anne, who holds his hand and encircles his shoulders in close affection. Gardner took advantage of the special optical properties of pastel, whose minute, irregular particles reflect light diffusely, allowing an unparalleled velvety brilliance.

Exhibition history

British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).

Quick Overview

Artist: Daniel Gardner (British, c. 1750–1805)
Date: c. 1776
Medium: pastel with black and red chalk and graphite
Dimensions: Sheet: 50.7 x 40.2 cm (19 15/16 x 15 13/16 in.)
Type: Drawing
Classification: Drawing
Department: Drawings
Credit line: Severance and Greta Millikin Trust
Accession no.: 2011.193

Provenance

?-?: Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 4th Earl of Shaftesbury, presumably commissioned from the artist 1921: (Thomas Agnew & Sons, London) ?-?: James Thursby-Pelham [1869-1947], 55 Cadogan Gardens, London, and Upon Cressett Hall, Shropshire by 1934-?: Alfred E. Hill, London after 1934-1967: Alfred E. Pearson, Sheffield & Torquay 1967: (his sale, Sotheby's, London, July 12, 1967, no. 226) 1967-2011: P. Pearson Hague, by descent 2011: (Lowell Libson, London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) 2011-: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.