Anne Butler Brayne Spotswood (Mrs. Alexander Spotswood, b. 1698)

Anne Butler Brayne married Alexander Spotswood in England in 1724 and immigrated to Virginia in 1729. The couple settled at Germanna. Her husband was painted by Charles Bridges in 1736. It is unclear if Anne was painted in England or in Virginia but if she was painted in Virginia, it is possible that the original portrait was also painted by Bridges in 1736. Emma M. Whitfield painted this copy of an original destroyed by the 1926 fire at the Virginia Governor’s Mansion. The original portrait descended with portraits of Alexander Spotswood and his brother, Roger Elliott. They were recorded at Nottingham, home of Alexander Spotswood’s grandson, Alexander Spotswood (1751-1818) in the nineteenth century. Where the portrait hung between Alexander Spotswood’s death and his grandson’s purchase of Nottingham is unknown.

In the copy, the subject sits with a book in her lap, one arm resting on a stone pediment. She wears a gray dress. There is a red curtain behind her and a partial view of a column.