Nathaniel Dance-Holland: The Pybus family (1769)

(National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia)

A painting by the English artist Nathaniel Dance-Holland (1735-1811). This group portrait shows 6 members of the Pybus family. Standing in the center is John Pybus senior (1727-1789) who was an employee of the British East India Company from 1742 to 1768 in India and Indonesia. Sitting on the right is John's wife Martha Small (1733-1802). The other four persons on the painting are the four children of John and Martha: Martha (1758-1788) holding a ribbon-trimmed hat, Anne (1756-1791) savouring a rose’s scent, John Pybus Junior (1754-1808) seated on the ground before his sisters, and Charles Small Pybus (1766-1810) standing on his mother’s lap. Painting from 1769.