# Mrs. Paul Cobb Methuen

**Thomas Gainsborough** (English, 1727–1788)  
c. 1776/1777  
oil on canvas  
overall: 84 x 71 cm (33 1/16 x 27 15/16 in.)

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942.9.20. [The museum's record](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.1159.html).

## About this work

Mrs. Paul Cobb Methuen, her powdered hair piled high beneath a bank of white feathers and sparkling ornaments, glances sideways out of a dark background, her white dress trimmed with pearls and shimmering from silver to pale gold. Gainsborough painted her in the mid-1770s, soon after moving from Bath to London, where his fluid, feathery brushwork made him the chief rival of Joshua Reynolds. The virtuoso fabric, achieved with quick, flickering strokes, contrasts with the delicate, slightly reserved face.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Thomas Gainsborough painted this in about 1776/1777, aged about 49. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

### What you’re looking at

Shown from the waist up, a young, pale-skinned woman with her gray hair piled high atop her head is lit starkly against a dark background in this vertical portrait painting. The woman’s shoulders are angled to our left. Her face is square to us, but she looks off to our right from the corners of her eyes, which are gray rimmed with golden brown around the pupils. She has a thin face, smooth cheeks, a bow-shaped pink mouth, and a narrow chin. Her hair is mostly swept up high under a bank of pearl-white feathers and some sparkling ornaments. A few ringlets hang down the back of her neck. The bodice of her white dress scoops low across her chest and sits just above her sloping shoulders. The dress is adorned with pearls on the sleeves and around the neckline, and the fabric shimmers from silvery white to pale gold. The background is earth-brown around her face and deepens to almost black in the corners.

_Description from the National Gallery of Art._

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Thomas Gainsborough](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/thomas-gainsborough)

English, 1727–1788; born in Sudbury; died in London

Gainsborough trained in London with the French engraver Hubert Gravelot, then built his career as a portraitist first in Suffolk and later in fashionable Bath before moving to London in 1774. He was a founder member of the Royal Academy and a favourite painter of George III’s family. Although portraits paid his way, his own preference was landscape, and late works such as Cottage Children (The Wood Gatherers) bring the two together in his fluent, feathery brushwork.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- The artist was about 49
- Real size: about 33 × 28 in (84 × 71 cm). The 24 × 36 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 18th century
- Subjects: female, Methuen, Mrs. Paul Cobb
- Colour: black
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1336.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1336/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/mrs-paul-cobb-methuen-nga-1159).