Rhoda Delaval Astley was an English aristocrat and artist.
Background
Rhoda Delaval was born on 1 July 1725 to Captain Francis Blake Delaval (the elder) and Rhoda Apreece and baptized at Street George"s, Hanover Square in London on 22 July 1725. She was their oldest daughter of 12 children. Two years after her birth, her brother, Sir Francis Blake Delaval (the younger) (1727–1771) was born.
Education
Lady Astley studied painting with Arthur Pond, who painted her portrait.
Career
Seaton Delaval Hall passed from the Delaval family to the Astley family through her descendants. Her siblings were Anne Hussey, Mary Elizabeth, Sarah, Robert, George, Henry, Ralph, Francis, Edward, Thomas, John. A brother George, who died as a young adult, also pursued the art of painting with her instructor, Arthur Pond.
She was known to be a talented, beautiful woman.
Periodically between 1744 and 1750, Astley studied art under Arthur Pond, who also painted her portrait. She purchased prints for about £1,500 (equivalent to £210,755 in 2016) from Pond.
The National Portrait Gallery has the painting of her drawing with pastels. Her painting of Sir Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading was made from a 17th-century original painting.
The painting of Anne Hussey Delaval (1737–1812), Lady Stanhope in the National Trust is attributed to Rhoda Delaval and is loan by Lord Hastings.
Lady Anne Delaval Stanhope was Astley"s sister. Seaton Delaval, Northumberland, National Trust James MacArdell made an engraving of her self-portrait. In 1756, her portrait was painted by Joshua Reynolds and the painting was at Ford Castle in 1897.
Another painting of her is in Doddington Hall, Lincolnshire.