Moussa Ayoub after Joshua Reynolds - Mrs Margaret Desenfans - Google Art Project

Margaret Desenfans (1737-1814) or (1731-1814) was one of three founders of

Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, South London, which opened to the public in 1817. It was designed by Regency architect Sir John Soane using an innovative and influential method of illumination. Dulwich is the oldest publi ...

. She was born in Clasemont,

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, County

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

, the daughter of Robert Morris (d.1768) and Margaret Morris (née Jenkins).Thepeerage.com
citing Burke's Peerage, 107th Ed., 2003, Wilmington, Volume 2, page 2778. Robert was a

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

entrepreneur who had come to

in 1724 to supervise the Llangyfelach Copper Works, founded in 1717, and had taken control of the works when the owner, John Lane, was declared bankrupt in 1726. Her siblings included: Robert (a barrister born 1743, a supporter of the radical politician,

John Wilkes John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fo ...

, who died unmarried c. 1797), Bridget, Jane and

Sir John Morris, 1st Baronet Sir John Morris, 1st Baronet (15 July 1745 – 25 June 1819), was a British industrialist, active in copper-smelting and coal-mining in Swansea, South Wales. Biography Early life John Morris was born on 15 July 1745. He was the son of Robert Mor ...

. John followed their father as an industrialist, active in copper-smelting and coal-mining in Swansea, South Wales.

Morriston Morriston (; cy, Treforys ) is a Community (Wales), community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales and falls within the Morriston (electoral ward), Morriston ward. It is the largest community in Swansea county. Morriston is sometimes ref ...

, in the Tawe valley, is named after her family. See also the Morris baronets. In 1757, aged 20, she was painted by

Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

. A copy of this '' Portrait of Margaret Desenfans'' was commissioned by

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

in 1930 and executed by

Moussa Ayoub M. Moussa Ayoub (c.1873–1955) was a Syrian-born British artist known for his portraits. He was an active painter in London and Paris between 1903 until 1938. About He was born 1873 in Damascus, Syria, during the time of Ottoman Syria. Ayoub st ...

. In 1776, she married the art collector and dealer Noel Desenfans. She, her French husband, and their friend

Francis Bourgeois Sir Peter Francis Lewis Bourgeois RA (November 1753 – 8 January 1811) was a landscape painter and history painter, and court painter to king George III of the United Kingdom. In the late 18th century he became an art dealer and collector in ...

would eventually build up an art collection which became the basis of

in London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desenfans, Margaret 1737 births 1814 deaths People from Swansea Dulwich Picture Gallery British art collectors Museum founders