Two Silhouette Portraits. Two silhouette portraits, cut from dark silk and mounted on an off-white oval background

1798. The silhouettes are framed in a silver (highly tarnished) bead pattern, with inscriptions on the verso of each: "Countess of Hopetoun/ Given to Jane Collett/ By Mrs. Hudson/ 1798" and "Earl of Hopetoun/ Given to Jane Collett/ by Mrs. Hudson/ 1798." The portrait of the Earl seems to have been damaged below the silhouette at some stage in the past 200+ years, and the silhouettes themselves seem a bit amateur. Likely candidates are James Hope-Johnstone, third earl of Hopetoun and de jure fifth earl of Annandale and Hartfell (1741–1816) and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Carnegie (1750–1793); or, more probably, John Hope, fourth earl of Hopetoun (1765–1823), and his first wife, his cousin, Elizabeth (d. 1801)` , fifth and youngest daughter of the Hon. Charles Hope-Vere of Craigiehall, and sister of John Hope (1739–1785).