DARNLEY FINE ART DARNLEY FINE ART PresentingPresenting anan Exhibition of of Portraits for Sale Portraits for Sale EXHIBITING A SELECTION OF PORTRAITS FOR SALE DATING FROM THE MID 16TH TO EARLY 19TH CENTURY On view for sale at 18 Milner Street CHELSEA, London, SW3 2PU tel: +44 (0) 1932 976206 www.darnleyfineart.com 3 4 CONTENTS Artist Title English School, (Mid 16th C.) Captain John Hyfield English School (Late 16th C.) A Merchant English School, (Early 17th C.) A Melancholic Gentleman English School, (Early 17th C.) A Lady Wearing a Garland of Roses Continental School, (Early 17th C.) A Gentleman with a Crossbow Winder Flemish School, (Early 17th C.) A Boy in a Black Tunic Gilbert Jackson A Girl Cornelius Johnson A Gentleman in a Slashed Black Doublet English School, (Mid 17th C.) A Naval Officer Mary Beale A Gentleman Circle of Mary Beale, Late 17th C.) A Gentleman Continental School, (Early 19th C.) Self-Portrait Circle of Gerard van Honthorst, (Mid 17th C.) A Gentleman in Armour Circle of Pieter Harmensz Verelst, (Late 17th C.) A Young Man Hendrick van Somer St. Jerome Jacob Huysmans A Lady by a Fountain After Sir Peter Paul Rubens, (Late 17th C.) Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel After Sir Peter Lely, (Late 17th C.) The Duke and Duchess of York After Hans Holbein the Younger, (Early 17th to Mid 18th C.) William Warham Follower of Sir Godfrey Kneller, (Early 18th C.) Head of a Gentleman English School, (Mid 18th C.) Self-Portrait Circle of Hycinthe Rigaud, (Early 18th C.) A Gentleman in a Fur Hat Arthur Pond A Gentleman in a Blue Coat Thomas Hudson Mrs Faber Thomas Hudson A Lady in a Silver Dress Allan Ramsay A Lady in a Green Dress Attributed to Francis Hayman The Duke of Cumberland Attributed to Benjamin Wilson The Vandeleur Family Follower of Giovanni Battista Lampi, (Late 18th C.) A Gentleman in Levantine Dress Hugh Douglas Hamilton The Duchess of Ancaster John Dowman A Lady in a White Dress Follower of Joseph Wright of Derby, (Late18th C.) A Gentleman in a Wide-Brimmed Hat Sir William Beechey A Boy and His Dog French School, (Early 19th C.) The King of Haiti George Francis Joseph A.R.A. Officer of the 1st Hussars, K.G.L. 5 English School, Mid 16th Century Portrait of Captain John Hyfield Provenance: Sotheby’s, 2nd February 2001, lot 151. This fine and rare three-quarter-length portrait is reputed to depict Captain John Hyfield (or Highfield). The top left hand side of the portrait contains the sitter’s coat of arms, which is made up of a red chevron between three acorns. The top right had side of the portrait contains a Latin inscription which gives us the sitter’s family motto ‘SPE DUCOR’ (which can be translated as ‘I am lead by hope’) as well as his age, ‘AETATIS SUAE 42’ and the date, ‘A.D. 1568’. Inscriptions such as this are common in early English portraiture and serve to highlight the commemorative function of the portrait to capture a sitter’s likeness at a certain point in their life. The painting displays the charming naïve qualities characteristic of much Elizabethan portraiture and the fact that the various elements of the body are not in proper anatomical proportion only adds to the work’s character. As was often the practice in portraits up until the 18th century, the work was painted by two artists, one, who painted the sitter’s face and another, who was employed to paint the costume. The depiction of the gentleman’s face is extremely delicate and well rendered and is similar to the work of miniaturist of this period, capturing the sitter’s features in minute detail. The costumist has taken much trouble in faithfully replicating the complex forms of the individual elements of armour and creating a convincing sense of perspective with his depiction of the rapier hilt, a challenging element for any draughtsman. The sitter’s attire was chosen to display his heroism and martial prowess but also his wealth and power. He cuts an authoritative figure, holding a staff of office aloft in his right hand, his left hand confidently planted on the helmet at his side. The use of firearms in war became more widespread during the latter part of the 16th century and by the 1560’s full plate armour, particularly ornate sets such as this, was produced mainly for use in tournaments rather than the battlefield. Chivalry was a prominent feature of the Elizabethan court and tournaments, organized by one of the queen’s favorites, Sir Henry Lee, were major events of court life during her reign. These events gave her male courtiers the opportunity to indulge their sense of display and masculine exuberance. We can see that the sitter in this portrait is dressed for a tournament as he wears a lance rest midway up the right hand side of his breastplate. The armour is richly decorated with strips of gilded patterns and would have been an extremely expensive status symbol. It appears to be in the Italian style and was possibly made at the armoury at Greenwich, which was founded by Henry VIII and produced armour of the finest quality for the Tudor nobility, (a comparable example of Greenwich armour, probably made for Roger Baron North, is held at the Royal Armoury). The bulging lobster-like articulated tassets echo the 16th century fashion for padded hose and are especially typical of armour of this style and date (c.1550-1560), as are the pointed besagews, which cover the wearer’s armpits and protect the joint between the cuirass, (or breastplate), and the plates that cover the arms. Literature - Cooper, T. A Guide to Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, London, (2008). - Reynolds, A. In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion, London, (2013). 6 English School, Mid 16th Century Portrait of Captain John Hyfield Oil on panel Inscribed ‘SPE DUCOR, AETATIS SUAE 42, AD 1568’ Image size: 16 x 11 inches Wooden frame 7 English School, Late 16th Century Portrait of a Merchant Provenance: Agnews This rare and intimate Elizabethan portrait, dating from the 1580’s, depicts the head and shoulders of a wealthy merchant within a mottled-green painted circle. In previous centuries in England, portraiture was almost exclusively confined to the nobility and it was not until the middle of the 16th century, that there was a considerable rise in the commissioning of portraits by people lower down the social scale. These new patrons, who are broadly categorised by Tarnya Cooper as the urban or middle elite, included wealthy merchants and successful member of the professional and artisanal classes, such as lawyers, physicians, scholars and goldsmiths. (see Cooper, T. Citizen Portrait: Portrait Painting and the Urban Elite of Tudor and Jacobean England and Wales, London, (2012), p.1.). The sitter in this portrait is expensively dressed in a black coat and hat. Black was a fashionable colour which was costly to produce at the time, as it required an extensive process of dying to build up the required depth of shade. Literature - Cooper, T. A Guide to Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, London, (2008). - Cooper, T. Citizen Portrait: Portrait Painting and the Urban Elite of Tudor and Jacobean England and Wales, London, (2012). - Reynolds, A. In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion, London, (2013). 8 English School, Late 16th Century Portrait of a Merchant Oil on panel Image size: 2 x 2 inches Hand-carved gilt frame 9 English School, Early 17th Century Portrait of a Melancholic Gentleman Provenance: Collection of Francis Greville, 1st Earl of Warwick The Trustees of the Lord Brooks’ Settlement, (removed from Warwick Castle) Sotheby’s, London, 22nd March 1968, lot 81. This intriguing and mysterious example of Elizabethan portraiture dates from around 1600 and presents a deeply romantic image of a wealthy young gentleman. The sitter has been depicted in expensive clothing, which reflects his wealth and indicates that he is of a noble status. His linen shirt is edged with a delicate border of lace and his black cloak is lined on the inside with sumptuous scarlet and richly decorated on the outside with gold braid and a pattern of embroidered black spots. Despite the richness of his clothes, the sitter has been presented in a dishevelled state of semi-undress, his shirt unlaced far down his chest with the ties lying limply over his hand, indicating that he is in a state of distracted detachment. It has been suggested that the fashion for melancholy was rooted in an increase in self-consciousness and introspective reflection during the late 16th and early 17th Century. In contemporary literature melancholy was said to be caused by a plenitude of the melancholy humor, one of the four vital humors, which was thought to regulate the functions of the body. An abundance of the melancholia humor was associated with a heightened creativity and intellectual ability and hence melancholy was linked to the notion of genius, as reflected in the work of the Oxford Scholar Robert Burton, who in his work ‘The Anatomy of Melancholy’, described the Malcontent as ‘of all others [the]… most witty, [who] causeth many times divine ravishment, and a kind of enthusiamus..which stirreth them up to be excellent Philosophers, Poets and Prophets.’ (R. Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, London, 1621 in R. Strong, ‘Elizabethan Malady: Melancholy in Elizabethan and Jacobean Portraits’, Apollo, LXXIX, 1964). Melancholy was viewed as a highly fashionable affliction under Elizabeth I, and her successor James I, and a dejected demeanour was adopted by wealthy young men, often presenting themselves as scholars or despondent lovers, as reflected in the portraiture and literature from this period.