User:Miamelba/Mary Howard (née Finch), Viscountess Andover

http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person.php?search=ss&role=sit&LinkID=mp54607

Mary Howard (née Finch), Viscountess Andover (1717-1803), Wife of William, Viscount Andover

Comments: the 'Brilliant Woman' exhibition catalogue is out of print but I'm trying to get hold of a copy to use as a reference.

In the meantime, she's discussed on this GLAM exhibition page http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/2008/brilliant-women/the-bluestockings-circle.php through her representation on a c1740 'friendship box' which "commemorates the intense emotional bonds between four youthful bluestocking friends: Margaret Cavendish (Harley), Duchess of Portland (1715-85), who commissioned the box; Elizabeth Montagu, her young friend; Mary Delany (1700-88)... and, we believe, the amateur artist Mary Howard, Lady Andover (1717-1803), to whom the Duchess of Portland left the box in her will". They are represented on the box as portraits "mounted in an intricate enamel and gold setting that reflects the close connection between these young women, bound together by their shared interests in natural history, literature and the arts - subjects that they discussed in a lifelong correspondence".