David Scougall, 
Scottish, fl.1654-1672-
Portrait of a lady identified as Lady Margaret Hay,...

David Scougall, 
Scottish, fl.1654-1672-

Portrait of a lady identified as Lady Margaret Hay, Countess of Roxburghe, standing, three-quarter length, wearing a silk dress with a lace collar and pearl jewellery; 

oil on canvas, bears later inscription 'Lady Jean Hay 2nd daughter of John 1st Marquis of Tweeddale / Wife of Wm 1st Earl of March' to the upper stretcher bar, 91.5 x 76 cm. 

Provenance: 
The Marquess of Tweeddale, Yester House, East Lothian. 
By descent to Lady Daphne Stewart. 
Property of the late Hugo Morley-Fletcher, MA FSA (1940-2022). 

Exhibited: 
Edinburgh, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, ‘Childhood in 17th Century Scotland’, August-September 1976, no.59 (as ‘Attributed to Michael Wright’ and ‘Portrait of Lady Jean Hay, Countess of March’.)

Note: 
Painted in c.1666, the present work was previously thought to be by Michael Wright (1617-1694), before being attributed to Scougall by Carla van de Puttelaar. 

The sitter, Lady Margaret Hay (c.1657-1753), was formerly thought to represent Lady Jean Hay, Countess of March (1674-1729). However, Jean Hay wasn't born at the time the portrait was painted in the 1660s, while her elder sister Margaret, born around 1657, would have been about the age of the sitter in the portrait.  

‘The fashion for embroidering dresses had gone out by the 1660s, but the sitter’s silk dress is undeniably elegant. Over it she wears a long apron edged with fine lace. Her hair is arranged in wired-out side curls, and decorated with pearls. She has large pearl drops in her ears, pearls round her neck and a brooch with pendant pearl drops.’ (Scottish National Portrait Gallery, ‘Childhood in 17th Century Scotland’ exhibition catalogue, p.50).