John Astley (24 June 1720– 14 November 1787)[1] was an Englishportrait painter and amateurarchitect, known for his "patronage among a vast circle of fashion" as well as a fortune acquired through marriage.[2][3]
Born inWem, Shropshire, England, John Astley was a son of anapothecary, Richard Astley (1671–1754), and his wife, Margaret (1685–1735).[4][5] Among his siblings was a brother Richard, also a physician, whose estate he inherited.[6]
Due to his good looks, he was known asBeau Astley.[7] Some period sources also call himJack Astley. A biographer of SirJoshua Reynolds described Astley as "a gasconading spendthrift and a beau of the flashiest order."[8]
Several jaundiced contemporary accounts of Astley's character exist, notably a lengthy observation byJohn Williams, (aka Anthony Pasquin), who wrote: "He thought that every advantage in civil society was compounded in women and wine: and, acting up to this principal of bliss, he gave his body to Euphrosyne, and his intellects to madness. He was as ostentatious as the peacock and as amorous as the Persian Sophihe. He would never stir abroad without his bag and his sword; and, when the beauties of Ierne sat to him for their portraits, he would affect to neglect the necessary implements of his art, and use his naked sword as a moll-stick. He had a haram and a bath at the top of his house, replete with every enticement and blandishment to awaken desire; and thus lived, jocund and thoughtless, until his nerves were unstrung by age; when his spirits decayed with his animal powers, and he sighed and drooped into eternity!"[9]
In London, in the 1740s, Astley studied withJoshua Reynolds under the artistThomas Hudson.[10] He later went to study in Rome and Florence in 1747 (one of his teachers wasPompeo Batoni), before establishing his career during several years in Dublin, Ireland, and afterwards settling in England.[11]
Of his work, theBiographical Dictionary of 1789 said, "The best pictures he ever painted were copies of the Bentivolios, andTitian's Venus ...".[12]Horace Walpole claimed Astley's prominence was based "on the peculiarity of his good fortune, rather than by his exertions as an artist ..." and added that "he estimated his profession only by his gains, and having obtained a fortune, treated all future study with contemptuous neglect".[13] Among Astley's own students was the engraver and historical painter John Keyse Sherwin, while Cheshire portraitist Charles Hoyland, who reportedly studied in Rome with Astley, imitated his style.[14][15]
The painter "had much talent, particularly in portraits", wrote Samuel Redgrave in his 1878 dictionary of English artists. "His color was agreeable, the composition original, drawing fair, but the finish slight, and character and expression weak.[14]
Astley's portrait of British banking heir Tyringham Backwell (1754–1777), painted prior to 1777.
ToSir Horace Mann, 1st Baronet, an Astley admirer and subject,Horace Walpole wrote of a visit to one of Astley's exhibitions in 1752, declaring, "I confess myself a little prejudiced, for he has drawn the whole Pigwigginhood: but he has got too much into the style of the four thousand English painters about town, and is so intolerable as to work for money, not for fame: in short, he is not such aRubens, as in your head".[16]
Some sources state that Astley gave up painting after his 1759 second marriage, to the wealthy widow, but a contemporary account indicates that he continued to work after that union: "Beau Astley has contributed half-a-dozen phizes [faces], which, he tells me, he painted forfun; the better luck, so much for being a squire".[24] Another source states that Astley, although now rich, continued to accept commissions and charged a steep "20guineas, the usual price".[25]
According to a British weekly,Somerset House Gazette, and Literary Museum, Astley was also well known for his alterations to several residences, among them,Schomberg House, built for thethird Duke of Schomberg and which Astley owned and used as his London residence.[1]
"In the structure and decoration of small buildings, rich as the time is in architecture, Astley's architecture was pre-eminent: [Schomberg House in]Pall Mall is one instance; Lady Archer's saloon and conservatory [on The Terrace] atBarnes is another; Duckinfield [Lodge] is yet finer than either. The saloon, the loggio [sic] in front, the chamber on each side, and the great octagon, all are as exquisite as original, from their first idea to their last".[26][27] Of Dukinfield Lodge, which Astley completed in 1775 (demolished 1948), one element was especially admired: "The most interesting room is octagon in form; it is decorated by stained glass, and here was a portion of the valuable collection of pictures acquired by the two Astleys, father and son [Frank Dukinfield Astley]".[28][2] A 1795 description of Dukinfield Lodge describes it as containing "a fine octagon room with painted windows. Most of the others are small, but elegant, and are decorated with pictures chiefly by the hand of Mr Astley, who had been a painter by profession. The whole building was never finished".[3]
Astley also remodeled Elm Bank, his house in Barnes, which became the home and studio of designerChristopher Dresser in 1889.[4]
Called "a ladykiller of the first water", John Astley married three times:[29][30]
By his first wife, "an Irish lady ... who died giving birth," he had a daughter, Sophia (1749–1831). She became mistress of George Hyde Clarke, a prominent landowner inCheshire andJamaica, and bore him two sons. One of these sons, therefore John's grandson, is an ancestor of British Olympic competitorLord Coe.[31][32] In 1792 she married a Frenchman, Louis Foncier, and had further issue.[30]
Penelope Dukinfield Daniel (1722–1762), widow of Sir William Dukinfield Daniel, 3rd baronet, and a daughter of Henry Vernon. Shortly after the death of her husband, she met Astley at anassembly inKnutsford and was so struck by his appearance that she "contrived the next day to sit for her portrait and the week later, she gave him the original".[33][34] They married on 7 December 1759, in Rosthern, Cheshire, England, soon after their meeting, and she died in 1762.[35] By this marriage Astley had a stepdaughter, Henrietta (died 1771), and upon the death of his wife he became the owner of the Dukinfield and Daniel estates, includingGorse Hall.[30] The death of his stepdaughter, who had been judged insane, brought him even more money, leading one critic to write, "He owed his fortune to his form; his follies to his fortune!"[36]
Mary Wagstaffe (1760/1 – 18 February 1832), "a celebrated young beauty" and a daughter of William Wagstaffe, a wealthy surgeon of Manchester. They married in 1777 and had five children: Harriet (1779–1858), Maria (born 1780), Cordelia Emma (born 1783), John William (1785–1823), andFrancis Dukinfield Astley (1781–1825), poet and High Sheriff of Cheshire.[30][37][38][39][40][41] One of three sisters known as "theManchester Beauties", Mary Astley married, on 28 January 1793, at Dukinfield Lodge, as her second husband, lawyerWilliam Robert Hay (1761–1839), and had further issue. He later became Vicar of Rochdale andPrebendary ofYork, and was a son of Lord Edward Hay, governor ofBarbados and ambassador toLisbon; a nephew ofRobert Hay Drummond, Archbishop of York; and a grandson of the8th Earl of Kinnoull.[42][43][44][5]
Astley donated land and money for causes to improve the town of Dukinfield. He contributed land for the library and to Astley Grammar school as well as helping with restoring churches.
^abSamuel Redgrave,A Dictionary of Artists of the English School (G. Bell, 1878), page 393
^The Admission Register of the Manchester School, Volume 69 (Chetham Society, 1866), page 9
^Correspondence of the Hon. Horace Walpole to Sir Horace Mann, Volume II (Richard Bentley, 1840), page 452
^Reynolds's portrait, a sketch, is cited inThe Illustrated London News, Volume 190, Issue 1 (The Illustrated London News & Sketch Ltd., 1937), page 456
^Somerset House Gazette, and Literary Museum, No. XXXIV, 29 May 1824 (W. Wetton, 1824), pages 122–123
^A celebrated beauty of the 18th century, Lady Archer (née West) was said to have "lived to a good old age—proof that cosmetics are not so fatal as has been supposed. ... She resembled a fine old wainscoted painting with the face and features shining through a thick incrustation of copal varnish". As for her residence overlooking Corney Beach in Barnes, known as St. Anne's House, "the apartments [were] most tastefully decorated in the Chinese style" and Astley's greenhouse there was called "a fine conservatory opening into the principal apartment, with grapes, slow peaches, &c, at the end a magnificent sopha [sic], with a superb curtain, all displayed with a peculiar grace, and much to the greatest advantage". Descriptions cited inSpirit of the English Magazines, Volume 11 (Munroe and Francis, 1822), page 124
^Edwin Butterworth,An Historical Account of the Towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Stalybridge, and Dukinfield (Phillips, 1842), pages 161–165
^"Ladykiller" cited in William B. Boulton,Thomas Gainsborough: His Life, Work, Friends, and Sitters (Kessinger, 2006), page 194
^abcdPoets, Poems, and Rhymes of East Cheshire (J. Higham, 1908), page 41
^Wife's nationality and death cited inConstance Astley's Trip to New Zealand, 1897–1898 by Constance Astley and Jill De Fresnes (Victoria University Press, 1997), page 6
^Thomas Middleton,Poets, Poems, and Rhymes of East Cheshire; being a history of the poetry and song lore, and a book of biographies of the poets and song writers of the eastern portion of the County Palatine of Chester (J. Higham, 1908), page 41
^A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A. (H. Graves and Co., Limited, 1899), page 36
^William Betham,The Baronetage of England (Burrell and Bransby, 1802), page 378
^Date of marriage cited inEngland, Cheshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1598–1900, accessed on familysearch.org on 1 April 2011
^William Betham,The Baronetage of England (Burrell and Bransby, 1802), page 379
^"Celebrated young beauty" quoted inConstance Astley's Trip to New Zealand, 1897–1898 (Victoria University Press, 1997), page 7
^Alexander Gordon,Historical Account of Dukinfield Chapel and Its School (Cartrwright & Rattray, 1896), page 72
^Samuel Bagshaw,History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Shropshire (G. Ridge, 1850), page 316
^Children cited inThe Baronetage of England by William Betham (Burrell and Bransby, 1802), page 379
^Daughters and son cited in Edward Edwards and Horace Walpole,Anecdotes of Painters Who Have Resided or Been Born in England (Leigh and Sotheby, 1808), page 125
^Debrett's Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland (John Debrett, 1840), page 425
^Thomas Middleton,Poets, Poems, and Rhymes of East Cheshire; being a history of the poetry and song lore, and a book of biographies of the poets and song writers of the eastern portion of the County Palatine of Chester (J. Higham, 1908), page 32
^Mary Wagstaffe's sister Elizabeth was the wife of William Hay's eldest brother, Edward, and, later, wife of General Alexander Kyd. Her other sister, Hannah, marriedLt. General Charles Morgan of the Indian Army. By her second marriage, Mary had three children, Elizabeth Hay (born 27 March 1798), Mary Anne Hay, and Rev. Edward Hay (born 16 April 1800, died 30 July 1860). Source:Debrett's Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland (John Debrett, 1840), page 425
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