Portrait miniature of Mrs Dalziell (Dalyell) ne Anstruther by Macleay, 1831

Charming 19th century miniature inscribed on the reverse: Mrs Dalziell nee Anstruther, grandmother of Henry St.John.

The inscription is almost certainly incorrect and the sitter is Mrs Jane Dalyell ne Anstruther, whose daughter Charlotte Lucy Hamilton Dalyell married Maurice St.John, a son of George Richard St.John, 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke.

The artist Kenneth Macleay operated out of Edinburgh which is where Jane and John Dalyell were married in 1822.

The miniature was one of a group of seven, framed together, which were sold by Kenneth St.John 7th Viscount Bolingbroke at Sotheby's on 28th February 1991. Lydiard House acquired five of the miniatures with grant assistance from the Museums and Galleries Commission V & A Purchase Grant Fund.