Nelly O'Brien (c. 1739 – 1768) was a

courtesan A courtesan is a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele. Historically, the term referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person. History In European feudal society, the co ...

, best known for having been painted by the artist

Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...

. She is not to be confused with the later Irish artist Nelly O'Brien. Little is known of her early life or her family background. She was an actress before becoming a courtesan, and for some time may have been the mistress of Augustus Keppel, who introduced her to Reynolds. She become the lover of Frederick St John, and he commissioned Reynolds to paint her twice between 1762 and 1764. Those paintings are now in the

Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse (Great Britain), townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquess of Hertford, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wall ...

and

Hunterian Museum The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...

. Nelly was rumoured to have had a son by Frederick St John in 1764, then became the lover of

Sackville Tufton Colonel Sackville Tufton (11 June 1646 – 30 March 1721) was the son of John Tufton, 2nd Earl of Thanet and his second wife Margaret Sackville. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Ralph Wilbraham of Newbottle, Northumberland. They had twelve chil ...

, to whom she bore two sons – Alfred (b. 1765) and Sackville (b. 1766). Her cause of death is unknown. A record in the burial register for St Ann's, Blackfriars - dated December 29, 1767 and stating "Eleanor O'Brien, aged 29" - may refer to her. The painting of her in the Wallace Collection was much admired and frequently copied in engravings. The art critic Jonathan Jones has written, "It's an urbane painting, neither looking down on Nelly nor getting all florid and rococo with excitement at painting a high-class prostitute. Her ambiguous social status frees Reynolds from the need to orate; there is no claim to grandeur here, instead an intimate directness."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Nelly 1730s births 1760s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain British courtesans British female models 18th-century British actresses