Darnley Portraits

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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

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.

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).

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

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).

English School, Late 16th Century Portrait of a Merchant Oil on panel Image size: 2 x 2 inches Hand-carved gilt frame

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. Although the sitter in this portrait is, as yet, unidentified, it seems probable that he was a nobleman with literary or artistic ambitions, following in the same vain as such famous figures as the aristocratic poet and dramatist, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550-1604).

The work can also been compared with the portrait of the poet John Donne (c.1595), a rare example of a portrait of a known literary figure from the period, which currently hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. As discussed by Tarnya Cooper, this portrait and Donne’s are of a very similar format, both depicting their young sitters in a similar state of melancholic distraction, with their black cloaks wrapped around their shoulders. The similarities between this portrait and that of Donne perhaps indicate the existence of a small sub-genre of portraits depicting aspiring literary figures (see Cooper’s discussion of the work in Cooper, T. Citizen Portrait: Portrait Painting and the Urban Elite of Tudor and Jacobean England and Wales, London, (2012), p.190). Both paintings contain an unusual wispy vertical white/grey brushstroke, emulating from the sitters’ chests. Elizabethan portraits often contain secret signs and symbols, which told stories about their sitters, and it has been suggested that this mark could represent the vapour of melancholy (see Cooper’s discussion of this feature of Donne’s portrait in Cooper, T. and Eade, J. Elizabeth I & Her People, London, (2014), p.181).

We are grateful to Adam Busiakiewicz for his assistance researching this work.

Literature -Cooper, T. Citizen Portrait: Portrait Painting and the Urban Elite of Tudor and Jacobean England and Wales, London, (2012). -Cooper, T. and Eade, J. (ed.) Elizabeth I & Her People, London, (2014). -Reynolds, A. In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion, London, (2013). -Strong, R. ‘Elizabethan Malady: Melancholy in Elizabethan and Jacobean Portraits’, Apollo, LXXIX, (1964).

English School, (circa 1600) Portrait of a Melancholic Gentleman Oil on panel, oval Image size: 29¼ x 23 inches Painted wooden frame

English School, Early 17th Century Portrait of a Lady Wearing a Garland of Roses

This enchanting portrait of an unknown lady wearing a garland of roses is a charming example of early 17th century portraiture. The sitter wears a rich jacket, beautifully embroidered with a complex and colourful array of flowers, including borage and roses, with a delicate lace collar and vibrant crimson mantle wrapped across her left shoulder. Costume was often used to project an image of a sitter’s wealth and status and Elizabethan and Jacobean artists paid close attention to recording their sitter’s clothing in great detail. This can be seen in the meticulous way that the artist has picked out the fine patterning of the lady’s lace collar, particularly where it stands out against the red of the mantle beneath.

The lady’s jacket is of a style seen in portraits dating from around 1615 to 1625. Comparable jackets from this period are present in the works of William Larkin, including his portrait of Lady Dorothy Cary and that of Lady Jane Thornagh (c.1617). Other examples of similar jackets can also be seen in the work of Larkin’s contemporary, Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, in particular his portrait of Frances Howard, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox (c.1621), in his portrait of a lady, possibly Arabella Stuart, in Leeds Museum, and in his portrait of Margaret Layton (c.1620), which is in the collection of the V&A, along with the original embroidered jacket worn by the sitter.

The portraitist has depicted the sitter with her hand placed over her chest. During this period women were sometimes painted with one hand placed above their stomachs in a gesture used to indicate to the viewer that the sitter was pregnant at the time. In this case, the woman’s hand is placed further up on her chest and on the left hand side above her heart, indicating that the gesture could be meant to symbolise love and hence that the portrait was perhaps commissioned to commemorate either the lady’s marriage or betrothal, rather than the imminent arrival of a child. The theme of love is also mirrored in the garland of roses on her head, the rose being a flower long associated with Venus and often used to symbolise love.

Literature - Reynolds, A. In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion, London, (2013). - Ribeiro, A. Fashion and Fiction: Dress in Art and Literature in Stuart England, London, (2005).

English School, Early 17th Century Portrait of a Lady Wearing a Garland of Roses Oil on panel Image size: 10 x 8 inches

Continental School, Early 17th Century Portrait of a Gentleman with a Crossbow Winder

This early work, depicting a gentleman holding a crossbow winder, was produced in the Low Countries in the first quarter of the 17th Century. The man is dressed in black, the colour of choice in the Low Countries during this period. To the modern eye, his clothing appears to be relatively somber, but on closer inspection, it is apparent that the artist has conveyed the elevated status of his sitter through bringing out the differing textures of the material that make up his costume.

The Gentleman’s golden jewel-covered belt is particularly well painted and indicates that the sitter was the holder of some form of civic position, perhaps linked to the crossbow, which is referred to both in the coat of arms in the top right hand side of the portrait, and the crossbow winder in his hand. The crossbow was a popular weapon of choice on the continent and it is possible that the sitter served as a prominent member of one of the many crossbow guilds in towns across the Low Countries, or an officer in a civic militia.

Continental School, Early 17th Century Portrait of a Gentleman with a Crossbow Winder Oil on panel Inscribed ‘AETATIS SUAE 32’ Image size: 35¼ x 26 inches

Flemish School, Early 17th Century FlemishPortrait School, of a Boy Early in a Black 17th CenturyTunic Portrait of a Boy in a Black Tunic

This accomplished portrait of an unknown boy in his early teens was painted between1620 and 1640. ThisThe artistaccomplished has depicted portrait his sitter of an with unknown great sensitivity,boy in his earlydelicately teens observing was painted the between1620 transition of fleshand 1640.tones in his flushed pink cheeks and picking out the wisps of hair around his ears with fine brush strokes. The artist has depicted his sitter with great sensitivity, delicately observing the transition of flesh tones in his flushed pink cheeks and picking out the wisps of hair around his ears with fine brush strokes. The dramatic play of light and shadow serves to emphasize both the sitter’s face and the gold buttons decorating his doublet, as they shine out against the dark background. The richness of the boys clothing The dramatic play of light and shadow serves to emphasize both the sitter’s face and the gold buttons decoratingindicates that his he doublet, was from as they an affluent shine out family against and the, despite dark background.his tender age, The he richnessengages ofthe the viewer boys withclothing the indicatesintense and that direct he was gaze from of a an confident affluent youngfamily man.and, despite his tender age, he engages the viewer with the intense and direct gaze of a confident young man.

Flemish School, Early 17th Century Portrait of a Boy in a Black Tunic Flemish School, Early 17th Century Portrait ofOil a Boy on in panel a Black Tunic Image size:Oil 15 on panel x 13 inches Image size: 15 x 13 inches

Gilbert Jackson (Active 1621-43) Portrait of a Girl (aged 14)

Gilbert Jackson was an accomplished English portrait painter, active between 1621 and 1643. Little is known about Jackson’s life, he was probably a London based artist but he seems to have travelled around various parts of England, painting members of the local gentry and their families. He was made a freeman of the Painter-Stainer’s Company in 1640.

This charming portrait displays many of the features attributed to Jackson. In contrast to his foreign contemporaries Daniel Mytens, Sir Anthony Van Dyck and Paul van Somer, who were working at the court around this time, Jackson followed a more traditional English style, reminiscent of works from the Elizabethan era. The way that the sitter’s face quietly recedes into the background of this portrait is reminiscent of the naïve charm of earlier portraits, yet the face is saved from flatness or stiffness by the delicate, knowing expression which Jackson has brought to the eyes, and by the well observed line of the mouth, which brings life to the girl’s confident smile.

Other features of Jackson’s work are the detailed way in which he depicts costume and, in particular, his bold use of colour. Here the artist has chosen a teal background, which is strikingly bright next to sumptuous scarlet of the sitter’s gown and the ribbon in her hair. Jackson’s skill is evident in his handling of the light as it catches the lace on the dress and passes through the fine material of the intricate collar, and in the way that he brings across the light, wispy texture of the girl’s hair in contrast to the hard, smooth surface of the pearls at her ears and around her neck.

An inscription at the top of the painting gives us part of the artist’s signature, as well as the initials and age of the sitter. The sitter is most likely the daughter of a noble family, painted during one of the artist’s trips outside London.

Jackson’s works are present in a number of important national collections including the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Museum of Cardiff.

We are grateful to Sir Roy Strong for his assistance attributing this work.

Attributed to Gilbert Jackson Portrait of a Girl Oil on panel, signed and dated Image size: 24 x 20 inches 18th Century gilt frame

Cornelius Johnson (1593-1661) Portrait of a Gentleman in a Slashed Black Doublet

A skilled portraitist and, for a short time, court artist to king Charles I, Johnson was well known during his lifetime and his works are present in some of the foremost collections and museums in the country, including that of The National Portrait Gallery, who held an exhibition of his work in 2015. Johnson produced several hundred known portraits and is the first English-born artist to have consistently signed and dated his work.

Johnson was born in London in 1593. Of Flemish origins, his protestant family had fled to England to escape religious persecution. The young Johnson probably travelled to the continent to train as an artist in the Netherlands, before returning to London to establish himself in Blackfriars around 1618. His skill as a portraitist was in high demand amongst well-off merchants, lawyers, members of the gentry and the minor aristocracy. In 1632, the same year as the arrival of van Dyck to court, Johnson was appointed as ‘picture drawer’ to King Charles I. In 1639 he produced full-length portraits of the king’s children, the future Charles II and his younger brother, later James II, as well as their sister, Mary, future wife of the Prince of Orange. Johnson’s court career was cut short in 1643 by the turbulence and loss of patronage resulting from the outbreak of the English Civil War. He returned once more to the continent where he continued his career as a portraitist until his death in Utrecht in 1661.

The work of Daniel Mytens and, later that of van Dyck, both had an influence on Johnson, but his work retained its own individual and somewhat traditional characteristics. He produced miniatures and full-length works, but his real area of expertise was in half and three-quarter-length portraits, an intimate format, which best suited his somewhat conservative style.

Johnson is admired for the inherent tranquillity in his works and for his expertise in depicting costume. This captivating portrait of an unknown gentleman dressed in a black slashed doublet and ruff dates from the l620’s to 1630’s. Black was a popular colour in the early Stuart period, particularly during the 1630’s, and many of Johnson’s male sitters from this period are depicted in similar costumes. The portraitist’s skill is exhibited here in the soft modelling of the gentleman’s features and the delicate manner in which he has rendered the fine lace of the ruff. The sitter’s gaze is direct, but Johnson has captured a slight wistfulness in his expression, which gives the work a gentle charm.

Literature - Hearn, K. Cornelius Johnson, London, (2015). - Ribeiro, A. Fashion and Fiction: Dress in Art and Literature in Stuart England, London, (2005).

Cornelius Johnson Portrait of a Gentleman in a Slashed Black Doublet Oil on panel, signed and dated 1629 Image size: 31 x 24 inches Wooden frame

English School, Mid 17th Century Portrait of A Naval Officer

Provenance: The Malloy Family, Haygrass House near Taunton.

This handsome portrait, painted during the Interregnum, depicts a naval officer standing in front of a red curtain with a man-of-war visible sailing on rough seas in the distance. Painted in the old English style, it has a pleasant and slightly naïve quality, reminiscent of portraiture from the Elizabethan era. Like most portraits of the wealthier classes from the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the sitter’s expression is characterised by a self-composed still-ness. The officer’s face is relatively smooth and flat, and the detail has been lavished on depicting his costume, in particular focusing on picking out the smart white tassels and fine patterning of the lace of his collar.

As discussed in detail by Ribeiro, it is a popular misconception that there was marked difference in dress between parliamentarians and royalists during the Civil War and Interregnum (see Ribeiro, A. Fashion and Fiction: Dress in Art and Literature in Stuart England, London, (2005), pp.189-203). The Civil War had divided classes relatively evenly and, as a whole, it was only the extreme sectors of society, such as the puritans, who noticeably reflected their political views in the way that they dressed. The sitter in this portrait cuts a dashing figure and his appearance and dress would have been distinctly a la mode in 1652, the year this portrait was painted. The gentleman’s beard and moustache are small and neatly trimmed and his deep red hair is carefully groomed and worn in the new short and full style, which came into fashion in the early 1650’s. He is depicted wearing a black doublet in the short and loose cut, popular in the 1650’s and 1660’s, with long slits running down the sleeves to reveal much of the linen shirt beneath, (see Reynolds, A. In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion, London, (2013), pp.101- 102 for illustrated examples of similar doublets).

Literature - Reynolds, A. In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion, London, (2013). - The Visual History of Costume, (ed.) Aileen Ribeiro and Valerie Cumming, London, (1989). - Ribeiro, A. Fashion and Fiction: Dress in Art and Literature in Stuart England, London, (2005).

English School, Mid 17th Century Portrait of A Naval Officer Oil on canvas, dated 1652 Image size: 27 x 24 inches

Mary Beale (1633-1699) Portrait of a Gentleman

Mary Beale, (nee Craddock), is one of the most celebrated portraitists of the 17th century. The fact that she, as a woman, managed to reach the top of this male-dominated profession is highly unusual, (if not exceptional), and testimony to her skill and strength of character.

The artist came from a puritan background and her father, John Craddock, was the reverend of Barrow in the county of Suffolk, where she was baptised in 1633. John Craddock was an amateur painter and he is recorded as being a member of the Painter-Stainers’ Company. Little is known of Mary Beale’s training but it is possible that she received instruction from Robert Walker, a successful London portraitist who painted her father John Craddock in the 1640’s. She moved to Walton-on- Thames in 1651, after her marriage to Charles Beale, and then to Covent Garden several years after the birth of her elder son Bartholomew. Beale started to paint professionally in 1655, becoming the main source of income for the family after her husband lost his post as Deputy of Clerks at the Patent Office. Charles devoted himself to supporting his wife in her profession, acting as her studio assistant and business manager and recording details of her career and working practices in over thirty diaries, of which one survives in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Her fame grew rapidly in London society and her work was much admired by her contemporaries, including fellow artists such as the renowned court portraitist Sir Peter Lely and miniaturist Richard Gibson. Lely was an ardent admirer of Beale’s work and the two evidently enjoyed a very close relationship with one another. Lely allowed her the great privilege of observing him and studying his technique whilst he painted, even granting her permission to produce copies of his own works. As well as producing copies, Beale also worked hard to satisfy the high demand for her own work. She produced a large amount of portraits, including many for the clergy and the nobility, as her husband proudly records in his diaries where he lists a great number of her sitters. Amongst her clients were many of the most notable figures of the time, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Tillotson, the king’s sister-in-law, the Duchess of York, the Duchess of Cleveland, and the Earl of Clarendon. Many of Beale’s works have survived, including a large collection of paintings in the collection of the Manor House Museum in Bury St Edmunds, her portrait of her two sons in the Tate Britain collection, and a fine self-portrait of the artist, which hangs in The National Gallery.

This fine portrait of an as yet un-identified gentleman is typical of Beale’s work. The daughter of a churchman herself, Beale was very popular amongst intellectual circles and a large proportion of her sitters were clergymen and scholars. The sitter has been framed by a faux carved stone oval cartouche, a feature that is present in much of Beale’s work.

Literature - Barber, T. and Bustin M., ‘Mary Beale: Portrait of a Seventeenth Century Painter, Her Family and Her Studio’, exhibition catalogue, Geffrye Museum, (1999).

Mary Beale Portrait of a Gentleman Oil on canvas Image size: 29 x 25 inches Gilt frame

Circle of Mary Beale, Late 17th Century Portrait of a Gentleman

Painted around the 1680’s, this impressive bust-length portrait depicts a confident gentleman, fashionably dressed in a delicate lace stock and long, curled wig. As in the previous portrait, the sitter has been framed with a faux carved stone oval cartouche with foliage and fruit, a common feature of the work of Mary Beale. The artist has brought out the sitter’s sense of confidence by closely observing the directness of his gaze and the composed nature of his posture.

Circle of Mary Beale, Late 17th Century Portrait of a Gentleman Oil on canvas Image size: 30 x 25 inches Contemporary gilt frame

Continental School, Early 19th Century Continental School, Early 19th Century Self-Portrait Self-Portrait

th In this self-portrait, dating from the early 19th Century, the artist has chosen to depict himself resting his In this self-portrait, dating from the early 19th Century, the artist has chosen to depict himself resting his tousled head heavily on his left hand in a state of melancholic dishevelment, with an unbuttoned collar andtousled distracted head heavily eyes. Ason hisdiscussed left hand in relationin a state to of the melancholic third portrait dishevelment, in this catalogue, with an unbuttoned(see the entry collar for and distracted eyes. As discussed in relation to the third portrait in this catalogue, (see the entry for Portrait of a Melancholic Gentleman), melancholia has long been associated with creative genius and was thereforePortrait of aseen Melancholic as a fashionable Gentleman ),affliction melancholia amongst has aspiring long been and associated creative young with creative men, particularly genius and poets was therefore seen as a fashionable affliction amongst aspiring and creative young men, particularly poets and artists. and artists.

th Continental School, Early 19th Century Continental School, Early 19th Century Self-Portrait Graphite Selfand-Portrait pastel on paper Graphite and pastel on paper Image size: 14 x 11 inches Image size:Gilt 14 frame x 11 inches Gilt frame

Circle of Gerrit van Honthorst, Mid 17th Century Portrait of a Gentleman in Armour

Gerrit van Honthorst was a Dutch Golden Age Painter. The son of a tapestry cartoonist, van Honthorst was born in Utrecht in 1592. He commenced his training in the studio of Abraham Bloemaert. In 1616 van Honthorst visited Rome, where he had great success painting in a style influenced by Caravaggio. He studied the great master’s use of naturalism and chiaroscuro lighting and incorporated these features into his own works, becoming particularly well known for his candle-lit scenes for which he gained the nickname ‘Gherrardo delle Notti’.

In 1628 he travelled to London where he spent a short time working for Charles I, creating several portraits of the royal family, including a portrait of the king, which is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. The artist continued to receive patronage from European royalty and, having travelled to The Hague at the end of 1628, became favourite court painter to Prince Frederick of Orange, producing portraits influenced by the style of van Dyke, and large-scale decorative paintings. He also completed a set of classical and historical works for King Christian IV of Denmark, one of which remains in the collection of the National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen. He returned to his native Utrecht in 1652 where he died several months later.

One of only a small number of artists to have achieved international renown in this period, van Honthurst’s work was highly influential and his style was imitated by many artists, including the painter of this fine portrait of a gentleman dressed in his armour.

Circle of Gerrit van Honthorst, Mid 17th Century Portrait of a Gentleman in Armour Oil on panel Image size: 29 x 23 inches Contemporary gilt frame

Circle of Pieter Harmensz Verelst, Late 17th Century Portrait of a Young Man

The Dutch Golden Age painter Pieter Harmensz Verlest was born in the Netherlands in 1618. He painted a variety of subject matters, including a number of portraits, but is perhaps best known for his depictions of daily life including street and tavern scenes from Dutch and Italian villages. He died around 1668, leaving three sons, Simon, Herman and Johannes, who all followed in their father’s footsteps and became artists.

This small and intimate portrait dates from the late 17th Century and was painted by a member of the circle of Verelst. It depicts a youth stood in front of a doorway looking out onto a flat landscape. A large proportion of the landscape is made up of a dramatic cloud-streaked sky and the sitter’s large averted eyes display a woeful, melancholic expression, which is echoed in the dark clouds brewing in the distance behind him.

The painting’s composition is made up of several alternating contrasts between light shining across the sitter’s right arm and face, and the flash of bright blue sky towards the top of the picture, against the blacks and murky browns of the distant fields and the deep shadows behind him. The contrast between light and dark is used particularly effectively in the artist’s skilful handling of the youth’s baggy shirtsleeves, which are criss-crossed with tiny crumples and folds.

Circle of Pieter Harmensz Verelst, Late 17th Century Portrait of a Young Man Oil on Panel Image size: 7 x 5 inches Ripple moulded frame

Hendrick van Somer (1615-1684) Portrait of Saint Jerome

Hendrick van Somer, (also referred to as van Someren or Enrico Fiammingo), was a Dutch artist, working during the golden age of Dutch painting in the 17th century. He was the pupil of the accomplished master Jusepe de Ribera and was strongly influenced by his master’s work.

Little information has survived to provide a clear picture of Hendrick van Somer’s background but it seems that he was descended from a line of painters. According to Arnold Houbraken’s work, ‘The Great Theatre of Dutch Painters’ (published 1718-21), he was the grandson of Flemish painter Aert Mitjens and the son of Barend van Someren, a respectable painter of landscape and allegory. Barend van Someren is alleged to have sheltered the young Flemish painter Adriaen Brouwer after his flight from the workshop of van Hals.

Hendrick van Somer studied in Naples in the workshop of the well-known Spanish painter Jusepe de Ribera. Ribera was the most successful pupil of the famous Caravaggio, the Italian master best known for his dramatic use of light and shadow and for his incredibly detailed use of naturalism. Ribera learnt from Caravaggio and in turn passed these stylistic elements onto his pupil van Somer. Van Somer was clearly a brilliant pupil who observed his master’s work carefully and Ribera’s influence is evident across the artist’s works, including this portrait. Indeed van Somer was so successful in emulating Ribera’s style that it seems that he may, on occasion, have attempted to pass off his own work as that of his teacher. Evidence of this as can be seen in a painting, documented in the records of the Netherlands Institute of Art History (RKD) as ‘The Penitent St Jerome in the Desert’, which was signed with Ribera’s name, but has in recent years been attributed to van Somer.

This intimate painting of a saint’s head appears to depict the bare-shouldered St. Jerome during his period of suffering in the desert. The subject of meditation and penitence seem to have interested the artist and he painted a work of very similar dimensions to this painting, which depicts the head of the penitent St. Peter. St. Jerome was painted a number of times by Ribera and, having studied his teacher’s depictions, van Somer also returned to the subject of the hermit saint again and again.

The dramatic contrast of light and dark brings an emotional intensity to the piece as it serves to highlight the physical evidence of the man’s suffering. The rim of the saint’s eyed glint with tears and the weathered grooves and wrinkles of the old man’s face can be discerned clearly, shining brightly out of the shadows.

Hendrick van Somer Portrait of Saint Jerome Oil on canvas Image size: 19 x 16 inches Contemporary wood frame

Jacob Huysmans (1633–1696) Portrait of a Lady by a Fountain

Huysmans, (sometimes referred to as Houseman), was born in Antwerp in the 1630’s. Having come from a family of artists, he trained under Flemish painter Frans Wouters, before moving to England to seek his fortune around the time of the restoration. The restoration of the monarchy in 1660, and subsequent revival of the court, brought with it many opportunities for patronage and Huysmans soon became one of the fashionable painters at the court of Charles II.

Whilst England was under the puritanical rule of Oliver Cromwell, Charles had spent many years living in exile in France. The young king picked up a taste for foreign fashion and on his return set up a court that was more lavish and licentious than any that had gone before. It was a place where theatrical performance was commonplace and where powerful women would take a new prominence, many winning great influence and celebrity. Huysmans’ work followed the continental baroque style that had influenced him during his training, often making use of elaborate and theatrical outfits and props. He brilliantly captured this exciting and sumptuous new atmosphere in the dramatic poses and lavish costumes of his sitters, particularly in his portraits of court beauties who he sometimes depicted in the guise of figures from allegory or mythology, such as the Roman goddess Diana.

The famous diarist, Samuel Pepys visited Huysmans’ studio in 1664. Pepys was clearly impressed, commenting that during his visit, he had seen ‘as good pictures, I think, as ever I saw’, and noting that the artist was capable of a more exact likeness than his famous contemporary Sir Peter Lely, (see Coward, B. A Companion to Stuart Britain, Oxford, (2003), p.203). Certainly the diarist records that by 1664, Huysmans was reckoned to be the better painter of the two amongst the circle of the Queen, Catherine of Braganza. Catherine commissioned Huysmans to complete an altarpiece for her chapel in St James’ Palace and several portraits, including one of her dressed as a shepherdess, which remains in the Royal Collection. He styled himself ‘The Queen’s Painter’, and certainly his portraits of her show a more profound interpretation of her character than can be found in the works of his rivals.

This impressive portrait depicts a fashionable lady seated by a fountain in the middle of a rose garden. The sitter’s identity is unknown but she was doubtless of extremely high social standing and is shown here wearing a style of dress that was typically worn by the ladies at court in the 1660’s and 1670’s. The style of cut is loose and appears informal, almost like a nightdress; the very informality projects the status of the wearer, as ‘tiquette demanded that those of a lower social position should never appear more informally dressed than their superiors’ (see Dethloff, D. ‘Portraiture and Concepts of Beauty in Restoration Painting’ in Macleod, C. and Marciari Alexander J. (ed.), Painted Ladies: Women at the Court of Charles II, London, (2001), p.32). The image is designed to project the beauty, virtuosity and wealth of the sitter. The lady’s left arm is resting on a fountain in a pose associated with reflection and melancholy. Huysmans often depicted his sitters in idealised or Arcadian landscapes, some in the guise of a shepherdess and others sat in front of lemon or orange trees holding fruit, a symbol designed to reflect their fecundity. Here the lady is seated in a rose garden: the red or pink rose was considered a sacred emblem of Venus, who had pricked herself on a thorn and tinted a white rose red with her blood in her hurry to get to her dying lover Adonis, but it was also associated with the virgin Mary, who was described as a rose without thorns. The setting amongst roses thus serves to symbolise both the sitter’s desirability and her flawless feminine perfection. The artist was an expert at depicting the textures and folds of the rich fabrics worn by the nobility and he has captured in great detail the way that the light catches the tawny silks and the loose ringlets falling through the lady’s fingers.

Huysmans’ work continued to be popular at court and he painted many important members of the aristocracy, including the Duke of Lauderdale and the Duke of Albemarle. The artist’s career in London was briefly interrupted in 1666, when he temporarily re-located to Sussex, perhaps fearing that his Catholic faith might attract suspicion in the paranoid and xenophobic atmosphere following the Great Fire of London. He died thirty years later in London in 1696 and was interred at St. James’s Piccadilly.

Literature - Macleod, C. and Marciari Alexander J. (ed.), Painted Ladies: Women at the Court of Charles II, London, (2001). - Coward, B. A Companion to Stuart Britain, Oxford, (2003)

Jacob Huysmans Portrait of a Lady by a Fountain Oil on canvas Image size: 49 x 40¼ inches Gilt frame

After Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Late 17th Century Portrait of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel

A leading connoisseur and pioneering collector of his age, Thomas Howard 2nd Earl of Arundel (1585- 1646) was a prominent member of the court during the reigns of James I and Charles I. He is known as the ‘Collector Earl’ due to his keen interest in art, an obsession, which, despite his great fortune, had caused him to build up vast debts by the time of his death in 1646. A descendant of the Catholic Dukes of Norfolk, he was one of the first great English collectors and a member of the Whitehall group, a circle of art connoisseurship that grew up in and around the court of Charles I. His collection included works by masters such as Titian, Leonardo da Vinci, Daniel Mytens, Sir Anthony van Dyck, Hans Holbein and Raphael. Many of his paintings remain at the family seat, Arundel Castle.

Arundel and his wife had travelled to Italy on a trip to Venice as early as 1613, where they were introduced to the works of the great Italian masters. This was the first of the Arundels’ visits to the continent and they would return on a number of occasions. As well as giving them the opportunity to buy and bring back many works for their collection, these trips also inspired the Arundels to follow the practices of the nobility in Italy by commissioning works from the most distinguished contemporary artists. They were particularly drawn to the style of the Flemish artist Sir Peter Paul Rubens, whose work had been influenced by the great Venetian painters. Rubens received a large number of commissions from Lord Arundel and he appears to have held his patron in high regard, referring to him as ‘one of the evangelists of art’.

This work is an early copy of the head of Lord Arundel from Rubens’ half-length portrait of the Earl, which currently hangs in the National Gallery in London. The work is of a very high calibre and clearly painted by a skilled hand as it does not exhibit the laboured qualities which mark out the work of lesser copyists. The artist has understood and replicated Rubens’ very subtle use of blue around the eyes and under the nose and lower lip to create a very naturalistic depiction of shadowing on the flesh. They have managed to create a real feel of wetness across the surface of the eyes, and the hair, as in the original, is brilliantly detailed and naturalistic, with individual hairs picked out and highlighted with the flick of a fine brush.

After Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Late 17th Century Portrait of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel Oil on canvas Image size: 10 x 13 inches Original carved gilt frame

After Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680) James, Duke of York, (later James II) and Anne Hyde, Duchess of York

Born in Soest in 1618, Lely trained under Pieter de Grebber in Haarlem before travelling to London in 1634. He had painted the children of Charles I in 1647, whilst the king was in custody during the Civil War, and by the end of the Commonwealth, he had become the best-known portrait painter in England. After the return of Charles II and the restoration of the monarchy, Lely was appointed Principal Painter to the king and enjoyed a highly successful career at court, producing portraits of the leading figures of the day.

Lely produced a number of likenesses of the king’s brother, James Duke of York, (later King Jame II), and his first wife, Anne Hyde, over several years, the first of which was a pair of portraits of the couple, which now hang in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Commissioned by the Earl of Clarendon, this pair of portraits was most probably painted not long after the marriage of the couple was made public in December 1660. In the pair of portraits, James is depicted clutching a military staff of command in his left hand and Anne is shown trailing her fingers in a fountain, gestures which were perhaps intended to allude to the contrasting themes of war and love. This sketch, however, matches the composition of a slightly later group portrait of the couple, which is held in the collection at the Petworth House, (a replica of this double portrait hangs in the National Gallery and a copy is held at Euston Hall in Suffolk). The format of this group portrait combines the pair of single portraits of the Duke and Duchess and was perhaps executed without a second sitting, as it borrows many of their compositional elements.

Lely would make a number of studies when preparing a composition, many of which were still in his possession at the time of his death. Indeed, according to Oliver Millar, he was ‘a more prolific draughtsman, and made more preparatory studies in the course of his practice, than any other professional portrait-painter in London between Van Dyck and Allan Ramsay’ (see Millar, O. Sir Peter Lely 1618-80, exhibition catalogue, 17th November 1978 – 18th March 1979, The National Portrait Gallery, London, (1978), pp.73-74). He was also a discerning collector of drawings and over time acquired a large number of sketches by other great masters, many of which had previously been in the collections of Charles I, (which were later ceded to the crown after the Restoration), the Earl of Arundel, and Nicholas Lanier. He clearly appreciated the value of drawings, whether as a commodity in themselves, or as a part of the artistic process, and counted amongst his collection drawings by Pordenone, Fra Bartolommeo Veronese, Raphael and Leonardo, and at least one of Van Dyck’s surviving sketchbooks.

Literature: - Millar, O. Sir Peter Lely 1618-80, exhibition catalogue, 17th November 1978 – 18th March 1979, The National Portrait Gallery, London, (1978).

After Sir Peter Lely, Late 17th Century James, Duke of York, (later James II) and Anne Hyde, Duchess of York Chalk on paper? –ASK ADRIAN TO CHECK Image size? – ASK ADRIAN TO CHECK

After Hans Holbein the Younger, Early 17th to Mid 18th Century Portrait of William Warham

Last of the pre-reformation archbishops of Canterbury, William Warham was born around 1450 in the Hampshire town of Malshanger. Educated at Winchester, he then went on to train as a lawyer at New College Oxford. He proved his skills as a diplomat in his role as Master of the Rolls under Henry VII and was later ordained and made Bishop of London and Keeper of the Great Seal in 1502. In 1504 he was promoted to Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor, presiding over both the coronation of the new king Henry VIII and his marriage to Katherine of Aragon in 1509. He would later be called upon to act against his conscience and assist Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in attempting to negotiate with the papacy to arrange an annulment for Henry’s marriage to Katherine. Wishing to avoid the king’s displeasure, Warham remained compliant to the crown during the divorce proceedings and submissively accepted Henry as supreme head of the English Church in 1531, but in 1532 he felt compelled to voice his true feelings and published a protest against the Reformation. He was perhaps saved retribution from the crown by his death by natural causes several months later.

Hans Holbein’s original sketch of Warham is housed in the royal the collection at Windsor Castle and his finished portrait, after which this work was painted, currently hangs in the Louvre. Erasmus, a close friend of Warham, had sent him a portrait of himself painted by Holbein as a token of their friendship, and it was perhaps this that prompted the archbishop to have his own likeness recorded in 1527 in a similar pose to that of his friend.

This fine copy of Holbein’s portrait of Warham was painted between the early 17th and mid 18th century. The work is of a high quality and the artist has accurately re-created the same look of weariness in the old man’s face and the naturalistic play of shadow across flesh in Holbein’s original. The depiction of the archbishop’s regalia is also faithful to the highly detailed rendering in Holbein’s work and displays a great deal of skill on behalf of the copyist.

After Hans Holbein the Younger, Early 17th to Mid 18th Century Portrait of William Warham Oil on canvas Image size 35 x 38 inches Handmade contemporary style frame

Follower of Sir Godfrey Kneller, Early 18th Century Follower of Sir Godfrey Kneller, Early 18th Century Head of a Gentleman Head of a Gentleman

This fine portrait was painted in the style of the famous baroque portraitist Sir Godfrey Kneller. The skillThis offine the portrait artist is wasevident painted in the in subtlethe style and of highly the famous naturalistic baroque way portraitist that he has Sir handled Godfrey the Kneller. shadowing The acrossskill of thethe man’sartist isface evident and in in his the attention subtle and to detailhighly in naturalistic the way that way he that has hepicked has handledout the fine the linesshadowing under theacross man’s the eyesman’s and face the and hairs in hisin his attention long wig. to detail in the way that he has picked out the fine lines under the man’s eyes and the hairs in his long wig. A leading figure in English portraiture for over thirty years, Kneller was born in Lübeck in 1646. He trainedA leading in figure the Nethe in Englishrlands portraiture before travelling for over to Italythirty andyears, then Kneller on to was England, born in arriving Lübeck in in London 1646. He in 1676.trained After in the the Nethedeathrlands of Sir beforePeter Lely travelling in 1680, to Kneller Italy and was then appointed on to England, Principal arriving Painter into the London Crown in under1676. AfterCharles the IIdeath and oflater Sir becamePeter Lely court in 1680,painter Kneller on the was accession appointed of JamesPrincipal II. PainterHe went to onthe to Crown serve under Charles a succession II and of later monarchs, became receiving court painter a knighthood on the accession from William of James III inII. 1692 He went and aon baronetcy to serve fromunder George a succession I in 1715. of monarchs, Kneller’s work receiving was also a knighthood recognised frominternationally William III and in he 1692 was andcreated a baronetcy a knight offrom the George Holy Roman I in 1715. Empire Kneller’s by Leopol workd wasI. also recognised internationally and he was created a knight of the Holy Roman Empire by Leopold I.

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English School, Mid 18th Century English School,Self- PortraitMid 18 th Century Self-Portrait

The identity of the artist in this self-portrait is unknown, but the style of the work suggests that it was created during the second quarter of the 18th Century. The artist’s smooth skin and youthful Theappea identityrance indicate of the artist that hein thispainted self- portraitthis work is whilstunknown, in his but late the teens style or of early the twenties,work suggests perhaps that using it was it th createdas a practice during exercise the secondduring his quarter training. of The the work 18 Century.has the characteristic The artist’s intensity smooth of skin a self and-portrait youthful and theappea smallrance scale indicate gives itthat a strong he painted sense thisof in worktimacy. whilst Whereas in his clientslate teens would or earlyoften twenties,dress in their perhaps best usingclothes it whilstas a practice sitting exercise for their during portrait, his training. the artist The has work depicted has the himselfcharacteristic in working intensity clothes, of a self with-portrait his shirtand unbuttonedthe small scale at givesthe collar it a strong in an senseinformal of in mannertimacy. Whereasand a nightcap clients wouldon his oftenhead dressto keep in theirhis shav bested clothes head warmwhilst in sitting-place forof his their wig. portrait, the artist has depicted himself in working clothes, with his shirt unbuttoned at the collar in an informal manner and a nightcap on his head to keep his shaved head warm in-place of his wig.

English School, Mid 18th Century Self-Portrait th English School,Oil on Mid panel 18 Century Image Selfsize:-Portrait 8 x 6 inches Oil on panel Image size: 8 x 6 inches

Circle of Hyacinthe Rigaud, Early 18th Century Portrait of a Gentleman in a Fur Hat

Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743) was the leading French portraitist of the late 17th and early 18th Century. The son of a tailor and painter in Perpignan, Rigaud trained in Montpellier under Paul Petzet and Antoine Ranc. He moved to Paris in 1681, where he trained under Charles Le Brun, and in 1682 was awarded the Prix de Rome by the French Academy in Rome. Rigaud was inspired by the works of other great masters whose paintings he studied and collected. His style encompasses the dignity and pose of the works of Van Dyck, as well as the realism of Rembrandt, to create the majestically superior and naturalistic images which so appealed to his decidedly high-brow clientele. The artist’s work proved to be extremely popular amongst the aristocracy, and his talent was soon noticed by Louis XIV. He became the principle painter to the king under Louis XIV and painted many portraits for the royal family under the Sun King and his, successor Louis XV, including his most famous work, the iconic image of Louis XIV in his state robes (1701).

This handsome portrait, painted by a member of Rigaud’s circle, dates from c.1725-50 and depicts a refined gentleman, dressed in an informal costume referred to as ‘undress’. A gentleman would wear such an outfit whilst at home or when paying a visit to the coffee house in the morning. The sitter’s garments are of a very high quality and serve to reflect the sitter’s wealth, status and elegance. During this period, gentlemen often shaved their heads in order to facilitate the wearing of a wig, which would be worn with a suit. Here the sitter has been depicted in a luxurious turban-like cap lined with lynx fur, a highly fashionable and expensive material at the time. Over his shirt, he wears a velvet fur-lined gown adorned with decorative clasps fashioned from silver braid. The elegant informality of his appearance can be seen in his un-buttoned shirt and the un-fastened black ribbon hanging from his buttonhole, which has been artfully arranged into a fluttering drape by the portraitist.

Literature: - Ribeiro, A. Dress in Eighteenth Century Europe, London, (2002).

Circle of Hyacinthe Rigaud, Early 18th Century Portrait of a Gentleman in a Fur Hat Oil on canvas Image size: 20 x 16¼ inches Gilt frame

Arthur Pond (1701-1758) Portrait of a Gentleman in a Blue Coat

Portraitist, engraver, publisher, art-handler, dealer, antiquarian and collector, Arthur Pond was an interesting character, involved in almost every aspect of the art business. The son of a surgeon, Pond was born in London in 1701. From 1720 to 1724, he studied at St. Martin’s Lane Academy under John Vanderbank, until Vandrbank’s debts caught up with him and he was forced to flee the country in a bid to escape his creditors. Pond completed his education in Italy, travelling to Rome with George Knapton in 1725.

Whilst in Italy, Pond became acquainted with the work of the celebrated Venetian pastellist Rosalba Carriera. The use of pastel as a medium for portraiture had only recently started to become fashionable, and Pond was one of the first artists to bring this new fashion to London, producing portraits and copies of works of other pastellists, including Rosalba Carriera and Jean-Étienne Liotard. The medium had some clear advantages; in practical terms it took less time to produce a likeness in pastel than in oil and required simpler and comparatively cheap materials. From a stylistic point of view, the medium lent itself well to the new rococo fashion for light and delicate likenesses on an intimate domestic scale.

This work depicts a smart young gentleman, dressed in a blue coat and red and gold embroidered waistcoat. Pond’s sitters came from a range of backgrounds, from the upper middle classes to the top of the political establishment. Amongst his more famous sitters were Sir Robert Walpole, Princess Mary, daughter of George II, the Duke of Cumberland and Alexander Pope.

Pond was made a fellow of the Royal Society in 1752. He was a member of a number of institutions, including the Society of Antiquaries and the Roman Club, a society made up of writers and artists led by the portraitist Jonathan Richardson, author of the Theory of Painting (published 1715), and teacher of George Knapton and Thomas Hudson. As well as working as a portraitist, Pond also produced and dealt in prints, including caricatures and copies of Old Masters, such as Caravaggio and Rembrandt. He died in his house in Queen Street in 1758.

Literature - Jeffares, N. Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800, London, (2006). - Lippincott, L. Selling Art in Georgian London: The Rise of Arthur Pond, London, (1983).

Arthur Pond Portrait of a Gentleman in a Blue Coat Pastel Image size: 23 x 18 inches

Thomas Hudson (1701-1779)

About the Artist:

Thomas Hudson was one of the most celebrated portrait painters of the mid 18th century. Born in Devon in 1701, he studied under the artist Jonathan Richardson and later went on to marry Richardson’s daughter against her father’s wishes. He was friends with many of the circle of prominent artists that met at the Old Slaughter’s Coffee House throughout the 1740’s, including William Hogarth and Francis Hayman, with whom he travelled to Europe in 1748. He also visited Italy with the sculptor Louis-François Roubiliac in 1752.

Hudson’s style of portraiture proved so successful that for a decade from 1745 to 1755 he was London’s most popular portrait painter and made a fortune painting the cream of London Society and members of the Royal Family. Due to his popularity and high volume of commissions, like a number of other fashionable artists of this period, including his contemporary Allan Ramsay, Hudson employed others to paint the drapery and clothing in his portraits. He often collaborated with Joseph Van Acken, a specialist in painting costume and prominent artist in his own right, thus allowing Hudson to focus his full attention on the fine details of the sitters face. The dramatic positions in which the sitters in his portraits are posed and the employment of rich and often striking costumes is a notable feature of his work and one which has led to comparisons with artists such as Van Dyck.

Hudson was a talented teacher, perhaps too good, as subsequently a number of his former assistants, including the great portraitists Sir Joshua Reynolds and Joseph Wright of Derby, went on to overtake him in popularity. Hudson retired in the late 1750’s and died in Twickenham in 1779. His most notable works include portraits of King George II and the renowned court musician George Frideric Handel, and his work entitled ‘Portrait of a Nobleman in Van Dyck Dress’. His works are present in some of the most esteemed collections, including The National Portrait Gallery, the National Maritime Museum, the Tate Gallery, the Foundling Museum, and the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery.

Literature -Miles, E., ‘Thomas Hudson (1701-1779) Portraitist to the British Establishment’, PhD thesis, Yale, (1976), pub. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor.

Thomas Hudson (1701-1779) Portrait of Mrs Faber

This portrait depicts Mrs Faber, the wife of John Faber Jr. (circa 1695-1756), a famous mezzotint printer and engraver of the time who produced a number of prints after Hudson. Born in Amsterdam, John Faber learned the arts of drawing and mezzotint engraving from his father before attending the Academy on St. Martin’s Lane. Faber was highly regarded as an engraver and portraitist and was prolific in his output. A number of artists employed Faber to make prints after their work. He turned many of Thomas Hudson’s works into prints and a print version of this painting can be viewed at the National Portrait Gallery in London. John Faber is best remembered for his forty-seven plates of the Kit-Kat Club, (after Kneller), and a series entitled ‘Beauties of Hampton Court’. He died in 1756, and, according to Horace Walpole, Mrs Faber remarried a lawyer by the name of Smith. The sitter’s relaxed pose and knowing expression are engaging and the portraitist has captured a look of recognition in her face. This sense of recognition puts the viewer in the position of a family member or friend of the lady, thus creating a dialogue between the viewer and the sitter, which serves to heighten the intimacy of the work.

Thomas Hudson Portrait of Mrs Faber Oil on canvas Image size: 29 x 24 inches Contemporary gilt frame

Thomas Hudson (1701-1779) Portrait of a Lady in a Silver Dress

This fine portrait of a young lady is reputed to depict Mary Wharton and it displays many of the classic characteristics of Hudson’s work. The bright and luminous sheen of the lady’s silver silk dress and pearls serve to accentuate her fashionably delicate complexion, and the bloom of her cheeks is echoed and reflected in the powder pink of her wrap, bringing a pleasant balance to the painting as a whole. The sitter’s pose is confidant, and her gaze direct, and Hudson has captured the hint of a smile playing across her lips.

Thomas Hudson Portrait of a Lady in a Silver Dress Oil on canvas Image size: 29 x 23 inches Original gilt frame

Allan Ramsay (1713 - 1784) Portrait of a Lady in a Green Dress

Painter to King George III and widely recognised as one of the most talented portraitists of his generation, Allan Ramsay was born in Edinburgh in 1713. His father, also named Allan Ramsay, was a poet and playwright, best known as the author of The Gentle Shepherd (1725). Like many of the most prestigious portraitists of his age, the young Ramsay studied at the St. Martin’s Lane Academy in London, as well as training in the studio of Swedish painter Hans Hysing.

In 1736, Ramsay travelled to Italy for the first time, working at the French Academy in Rome under the instruction of Francesco Imperiali before moving to Naples, where he worked in the studio of Francesco Solimena.

Invigorated by his experience under the Italian-baroque masters on the continent, Ramsay returned to Britain in 1738 and set up his own portrait practice in Covent Garden. His work swiftly gained in popularity and he soon attained an impressive list of clients, including the Duke of Bridgewater, Sir Robert Walpole, the Lord Chancellor Philip Yorke, Earl of Hardwicke and Dr. Richard Mead. As well as expanding his list of clients in London, Ramsay also retained his contacts in his native Edinburgh, where he continued to maintain a studio. His work proved particularly popular amongst the Scottish nobility and he received a number of important commissions from figures such as the Duke of Argyll and the Duke of Buccleuch.

This beautiful portrait of a lady in a green dress was painted in 1747, the year which Smart cites as marking a watershed in Ramsay’s artistic development (see Smart, ‘The Art of Allan Ramsay’ in Smart, A. and Marshall, R. (ed.), Allan Ramsay 1713-1785, Edinburgh, (1992 p.20). Created in the same year that Ramsay presented his magnificent full-length portrait of Dr. Richard Mead to the Foundling Hospital in London, this work was most likely painted in London or in Edinburgh, where the artist was situated between the summer of 1747 and January 1748. The portrait has a luminous quality and displays the natural sensitivity which Ramsay brings to much of his work, particularly in his portrayal of female sitters, a quality noted by Horace Walpole who praised Ramsay for his delicacy and expressed the opinion that he was superior to Reynolds as a painter of women (for quotation, see Smart, A. ‘The Art of Allan Ramsay’ in Smart, A. and Marshall, R. (ed.), Allan Ramsay 1713-1785, Edinburgh, (1992) p.11).

Ramsay visited Italy for a second time from 1754 to 1757, and it was on his return to London in 1757 that he received his first commission from Lord Bute, tutor to the Prince of Wales, to paint the heir to the throne. In 1761, Ramsay was chosen to paint the Prince, now George III, and his wife Queen Charlotte in full state coronation robes. The works were a great success and Ramsay was appointed Principal Painter in Ordinary to the King in March 1767 and subsequently spent much of his time producing copies of his coronation portraits and other works for the royal family.

Ramsay’s career in painting was halted by an injury to his arm, which he sustained from a fall from a ladder in 1773. A close friend of Dr. Johnson and David Hume, and correspondent of the likes of Voltaire and Rousseau, Ramsay spent his latter years following his intellectual and literary pursuits until his death in 1784.

Literature - Campbell, M. Allan Ramsay: Portraits of the Enlightenment, London, (2013). - Smart, A. Allan Ramsay: A Complete Catalogue of his Paintings, London, (1999). - Smart, A. Allan Ramsay: Painter, Essayist and man of the Enlightenment, London, (1992). - Smart, A. and Marshall, R. (ed.), Allan Ramsay 1713-1785, Edinburgh, (1992).

Allan Ramsay Portrait of a Lady in a Green Dress Oil on Canvas, signed and dated 1747 Image size: 29¼ x 24¼ inches Period gilt frame

Attributed to Francis Hayman (1708-1776) Portrait of the Duke of Cumberland

Born in London in 1721, Prince William Augustus Duke of Cumberland was the third, and favourite, son of King George II and Queen Caroline. Cumberland is best known for his command of the Government forces during the put down of the Jacobite rebellion, culminating in his victory at the decisive battle of Culloden in 1746. For his service in defeating the Jacobite forces, Cumberland received the gratitude of the English public, who hailed him as a returning hero and saviour of the Union. The victory of the Government forces was celebrated in a great service of thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The service featured the first performance of Handel’s new oratorio ‘Judas Maccabaeus’, which was composed especially in Cumberland’s honour and includes the anthem ‘See the Conquering Hero Comes’. Cumberland also played an important role later in his life, advising his young nephew George III on his accession to the throne in October 1760 until the Duke’s death at his house on Upper Grosvenor Street in 1765. He was buried in the nave of Henry VII’s Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

This elegant full-length portrait, attributed to Francis Hayman, portrays the Duke seated in a plain interior overlooking a landscape. Hayman was born in Devon in 1708. He began his illustrious career as a decorative artist and painter of stage scenery at the Theatres of Drury Lane and Goodman’s Fields. A close companion of William Hogarth, Hayman was one of the more prominent members of the St. Martin’s Lane Academy who visited The Old Slaughter’s Coffee House during the mid-eighteenth century. He set up his own studio in St. Martin’s Lane and taught in the St. Martin’s Lane Academy, where he instructed and inspired the young Thomas Gainsborough. Along with Sir Joshua Reynolds, Hayman was one of the founding members of the Society of Artists, which was formed in 1768 and would later become the Royal Academy. Hayman was a highly versatile artist who worked across a number of different genres. He was perhaps best known as a painter of historical scenes and produced a number of works for Vauxhall House Gardens, including decorative scenes for the interior of the garden supper boxes and a series of four monumental canvases, depicting scenes from the Seven Years’ War, which were displayed in the Billiard Room in the garden rotunda. He was also one of the first proponents of the ‘conversation pieces’ a fashionable format of portraiture introduced to Britain by Philip Mercier in the 1720’s and popularised by Hogarth in the 1730s, in which a group of people, often a family, posed in a domestic interior or landscape.

Like many of Haymans’ other single portraits, this work follows the same small full-length scale and informal nature of the conversation piece, depicting the Duke sat in a relaxed and confident position with legs apart and right hand on his hip, his left arm leaning casually on the back of a tilted chair. The background is made up of a stone hallway with an open doorway overlooking a landscape on the left hand side. Unlike later conversation piece artist Johann Zoffany, who was known to place his sitters in distinctive and personalised settings, the interiors in Hayman’s works are relatively sparse and impersonal. Hayman often employed stock elements in the staging of his compositions and a chair is used in a similar manner as a prop for his sitter to lean on in his portrait of George Dance, which is held at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. His figures are beautifully painted and tend to be slightly larger in proportion to the background than the figures produced by other artists working in the conversation piece style, such as Arthur Devis, Charles Phillips or Gawen Hamilton (see, Allen, B. Francis Hayman, London, (1987), p.28). The artist’s skill is apparent in the delicately with which he has captured the transparent nature of the lace of the Duke’s cuffs and the way that the light reflects off the metallic thread decorating his red waistcoat. On closer inspection fine details, such as the small hound- shaped badge on the Duke’s coat and the Royal Coat of arms poking out from underneath his coat, become apparent to the viewer. The Duke is usually depicted in military uniform but he has here been portrayed in less formal riding dress, with his gloves and whip in hand.

Literature - Allen, B. Francis Hayman, London, (1987).

Attributed to Francis Hayman Portrait of the Duke of Cumberland (1721-1765) Oil on canvas Image size: 35 x 28 inches Original gilt frame

Attributed to Benjamin Wilson (1721 – 1788) Portrait of The Vandeleur Family

Provenance: Mr Carman H. Messmore Lowe Art Museum Christie’s, New York, 9th October 1991, lot 139. Christie’s, New York, 7th October 1993, lot 149.

A contemporary of William Hogarth and Sir Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin Wilson is not a household name today but he was well known and highly regarded during his lifetime. The youngest child of a wealthy cloth merchant, Wilson was born in Leeds in 1721. He was inspired to draw from a young age by the murals of the French artist Jaques Parmentier, which decorated the family house at Mill Hill, recording in his memoirs how he earned extra pocket money selling sketches of Parmentier’s works to his schoolfellows. Following the failure of his father’s business and subsequent decline in the family’s fortune, Wilson moved to London and took a job as a legal clerk whilst continuing his artistic studies, attending life drawing classes at St. Martin’s Lane Academy.

Wilson made a trip to Dublin in 1746 and returned again to work there as a portraitist for a longer period from 1748-1750. It was perhaps during his time in Ireland that he received the commission to produce this delightful portrait of a lady and her infant child for the Vandeleur family. Originally from the Netherlands, the Vandeleurs had first settled in Ireland at the start of the 17th Century and by the 18th century the family were well-established magnates and landowners in County Clare, with landholdings at Ralagine and Kilrush. Alongside his work as a portraitist, Wilson also pursued his interests in natural philosophy, becoming particularly well known for his studies in the field of electricity. He was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society in 1751 for his Treatise on Electricity, published in 1750.

On his return to London in 1750, Wilson took a lease on Sir Godfrey Kneller’s old house on Great Queen’s Street, where he continued to run a thriving portrait business, for a time employing the young Johan Joseph Zoffany as a drapery painter. A prominent figure amongst artistic circles of the time, Wilson was close to William Hogarth and the group of artists with ties to the St. Martin’s Lane Academy and Slaughter’s Coffee House, and indeed he appears to have been sure enough of his own artistic standing to turn down an offer to go into business with Hogarth (see Graciano, A. The Memoir of Benjamin Wilson, FRS (1721-88): Painter and Electrical Scientist, Oxford, (1912), pp.166-167). In 1773 he was appointed as the painter to the Board of Ordinance by the Duke of York, younger brother of George III, a position which provided him with official recognition and a regular income. He died in London in 1788.

Literature - Graciano, A. The Memoir of Benjamin Wilson, FRS (1721-88): Painter and Electrical Scientist, Oxford, (1912).

Attributed to Benjamin Wilson Portrait of The Vandeleur Family Oil on canvas Image size: 50 x 40 inches Original gilt frame

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Literature: -Literature: Ribeiro. A. Dress in Eighteenth-Century Europe: 1715-89, London, (2002). -(See Ribeiro. in particular A. Dress pp.264 in Eighteenth-272 -forCentury a discussion Europe: 1715 of the-89 popularity, London, the (2002). of Turkish costume across Europe.) (See- Ribeiro in particular A. ‘Turquerie: pp.264 -Turkish272 for Dressa discussion and English of the Fashionpopularity in the ofEighteenth Turkish costumeCentury’, across in The Europe.) Connoisseur- Ribeiro A., vol. ‘Turquerie: 20, (May Turkish1979). Dress and English Fashion in the Eighteenth Century’, in The -Connoisseur Williams,, vol.H. Turquerie: 20, (May An 1979). Eighteenth -Century European Fantasy, London, (2014). - Williams, H. Turquerie: An Eighteenth-Century European Fantasy, London, (2014).

Follower of Giovanni Battista Lampi, Late 18th Century Portrait of a Gentleman in Levantine Dress Oil on canvas Image size: 19 x 16 inches Carved gilt frame

Hugh Douglas Hamilton (c.1739-1808) Portrait of the Duchess of Ancaster

Provenance: Christie’s, London,14th June 1977, Lot 206 Agnews

The son of a peruke maker, Hugh Douglas Hamilton was an Irish artist, born in Dublin around 1739. He studied drawing and painting under Robert West and James Mannin at the Dublin Society Drawing School, where he won a number of prizes. He put his considerable talent as a draftsman to use producing portraits in pastel and his work quickly caught the attention of the La Touches, a prominent local banking family with whom he retained contact throughout his career.

Having made his name in Dublin, Hamilton moved to London in 1764, where his business continued to flourish. He often exhibited at the Society of Artists and indeed there was so much demand for his small oval pastel portraits that he struggled to keep up with demand for his work. Amongst his clients were members of the aristocracy and the royal family, including the Duke of Northumberland, King George III and Queen Charlotte.

Hamilton travelled to Italy in 1779, where he continued his practice as a portraitist, depicting grand tourists and important travellers, including the pretender Charles Edward Stuart, otherwise known as bonnie Prince Charlie. After twelve years he returned to his native Ireland, where he painted many of the leading figures of the day before his death in 1808.

This fine portrait depicts Mary Bertie, (nee Panton), the second wife of Peregrine Bertie, the third Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, whom she married in 1750. The Duchess held a prominent position at court and served as the Mistress of the Robes to Queen Charlotte from 1761 until her death in 1793. The Ancasters were clearly distinguished patrons of the foremost artists of their time and the Duchess also had her portrait painted by Thomas Hudson and Sir Joshua Reynolds. This portrait by Hamilton dates from the 1760’s and is typical of the small oval pastel works for which the portraitist became so popular. The delicacy with which the artist has applied colour, and the sparing, sketchy manner in which he has depicted the sitter’s dress, give the work a light and graceful quality.

A popular artist, Hamilton’s work is highly regarded, particularly in his native Ireland. A large collection of his work was recently exhibited in 2008 at the National Gallery of Ireland in an exhibition entitled Hugh Douglas Hamilton: A Life in Pictures.

Hugh Douglas Hamilton Portrait of the Duchess of Ancaster Pastel Image size: 9 x 7 inches Handmade gilt frame

John Downman (1750-1824) Portrait of a Lady in a White Dress

John Downman was born in Ruabon, North Wales, in 1750. His father, Francis Downman, was an attorney and his mother, Charlotte Goodsend, was the daughter of the private secretary to George I. After studying in Liverpool for a short period, Downman moved to London in 1769, where he enrolled to study as one of the first 36 pupils at the Royal Academy under the tuition of the prominent figure Benjamin West, the president of the institution at that time. He exhibited his work at the Academy for the first time in 1770 before setting off in 1773 for a two-year tour of Italy in the company of the famous portraitist Joseph Wright of Derby.

The artist returned to England in 1775 and spent some time working as a portraitist in Cambridge and Exeter before moving back to London in 1779. Downman and his contemporaries Hugh Douglas Hamilton and Henry Edridge had much commercial success producing small intimate likenesses, which had an elegant lightness that perfectly captured a growing taste for sentiment in portraiture. By around 1780, Downman had devised a method of working in chalks and watercolours, which allowed him to capture a likeness within a short sitting, from which he could easily reproduce a number of copies. The small intimate scale of the works made them appropriate form of keepsakes for family and loved ones and Downman’s works were declared to be ‘universally admired and sought after by the first people of rank and taste’ (Morning Post, 4th of May 1786). He soon gained the patronage of some of the most esteemed figures of the day, including the Duchess of Devonshire and the royal family.

This attractive half-length portrait of a lady is typical of the artist’s work. The sitter is seated almost in profile in front of a blue curtain, dressed in a ruffle-fronted white dress and headdress. Downman believed that contemporary fashion should be recorded and preserved in portraiture. Unlike many earlier portraitists, he did not depict his sitters in standard or studio costumes, instead the sitters wore their own clothes and thus the portrait served as a form of snap-shop of a particular fashion and period within the sitter’s life (see Lloyd, S. and Sloan, K. (ed.), The Intimate Portrait: Drawings Miniatures and Pastels from Ramsay to Lawrence, London, (2008), p.229).

Downman was elected an associate Royal Academician in 1795 and continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy until 1819. In his later life he moved to Wrexham in Devon where he died in 1824. A large number of his works are kept in the British Museum and Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, where an exhibition of his work was held in 1996.

Literature - Lloyd, S. and Sloan, K. (ed.), The Intimate Portrait: Drawings Miniatures and Pastels from Ramsay to Lawrence, London, (2008).

John Downman Portrait of a Lady in a White Dress Pencil, stump and watercolour, heightened with white chalk, signed and dated 1784 Image size: 8 x 6 inches

Follower of Joseph Wright of Derby, Late 18th Century Portrait of a Gentleman in a Wide-Brimmed Hat

Joseph Wright was born in Derby in 1734. Already referred to as Wright of Derby during his lifetime to distinguish him from other artists with the same name, the addition of ‘of Derby’ also refers to the fact that Wright chose to settle in his native town, rather than setting up a studio in the capitol, as was conventional amongst fashionable artists at the time. Wright returned to Derby after completing two years studying under Thomas Hudson in London, (1751-1753), and soon gained acclaim producing portraits and landscapes in his local area and beyond.

A strong interest in science, which was encouraged by his circle of friends (including a number of the group of philosophers and experimental scientists later referred to as the Lunar Society), underlies much of Wright’s work. This interest is reflected in what are perhaps his two most famous paintings, ‘A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery’ (1766) and ‘An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump’ (1768), as well as in his many paintings of Mount Vesuvius, a subject which clearly intrigued the artist who had witnessed the volcano erupting during his trip to Italy (1773-1775). These works also demonstrate his lifelong fascination with light and, in particular, his mastery at capturing artificial light.

Wright had established his reputation well beyond his local area through exhibiting at the Incorporated Society of Artists and the Royal Academy, but his fame was also propagated through print copies of his works produced by a number of prominent publishers including William Pether, John Boydell and John Raphael Smith. Wright’s paintings were well suited for reproduction in mezzotint as his dramatic use of chiaroscuro could be translated effectively in this medium and many of the reproductions of his work were renowned for their quality. These prints were widely circulated and easily accessible at home and internationally and Wright’s style was imitated by portraitists both in Britain and America.

This elegant half-length portrait, painted in the style of Wright, depicts a seated gentleman wearing a black hat and green coat with his left hand resting on the spine of a large book clasped under his shoulder. The strong contrast of light and dark follows Wright’s own work, and the inclusion of the cocked hat, which has been used to create a strong shadow across the top of the gentleman’s forehead, is reminiscent of Wright’s own self-portrait, painted around 1780.

Literature - Egerton, J. (ed.) Wright of Derby, Westerham, (1990). - Nicholson, B. Joseph Wright of Derby: Painter of Light, Vol. I, London, (1968).

Follower of Joseph Wright of Derby, Late 18th Century Portrait of a Gentleman in a Wide-Brimmed Hat Oil on canvas Image size: 30 x 25 inches Contemporary carved gilt frame

Sir William Beechey (1753-1839) Portrait of a Boy and his Dog

Sir William Beechey was born in Burford, Oxfordshire. He entered the Royal Academy School in 1774, and first exhibited at the Academy in 1776. He spent some time working with Johann Zoffany before setting up on his own establishment in London. In 1782, he moved to Norwich, where he spent his time painting members of the local gentry.

Returning to London in 1787, he began to make a name for himself, and in 1793 he was elected associate member of the Royal Academy and made portrait painter to Queen Charlotte. Five years later, he was knighted and made a full member of the Royal Academy, exhibiting annually from 1785 to 1805 and from 1807 to 1838. In the 19th century, partially eclipsed by Thomas Lawrence, Beechey settled down to a less high profile, yet nonetheless lucrative, career painting fashionable society portraits.

Beechey was frequently commissioned to paint young sitters, including the many sons and daughters of King George III and Queen Charlotte. Portraits of children and pets became very popular in the late 18th and early 19th century and Beechey’s sentimental style lent itself well to depicting emotive subjects, such as this charming painting of a playful young boy clutching his pet dog. The boy is fashionably dressed in a smart suit with wide frilled collar and the artist has captured his playful character in his flushed cheeks and slightly naughty expression.

Sir William Beechey Portrait of a Boy and his Dog Oil on canvas Image size: 20 x 28 inches Period carved gilt frame

French School, Early 19th Century Portrait of the King of Haiti

This rare portrait shows Henry Christopher, the first King of Haiti. Henry Christopher (1767-1820) was a former slave and a key leader in the Haitian Revolution, which succeeded in gaining independence for France in 1804. In 1805, he took part under Jean-Jaques Dessalines in the capturing of Santo Domingo (now Dominican Republic), against French forces, who acquired the colony from Spain in the Treaty of Basel.

After Dessalines was assassinated, Christopher retreated to the Plane-du-Nord and created a separate government. On 17th February 1807, he was elected President of the State of Haiti, as he named that area. Alexandre Pétion was elected president in the South. On the 26th March 1811, Christopher created a kingdom in the North and had himself proclaimed Henry I, King of Haiti. He also created a nobility and named his legitimate son, Jaques-Victor Henry as prince and heir.

He is also known for constructing the Citadelle Laferrière, the Sans-Souci Palace, and numerous other palaces. Under his policies of corvee, or forced labour, the Kingdom earned revenues from agricultural production, primarily the commodity of sugar, but the people resented the system. He reached agreement with Great Britain to respect its Caribbean colonies in exchange for their warning his government of any French naval activity threatening Haiti. Unpopular, ill, and fearing a coup, he committed suicide. His son and heir was assassinated 10 days later. The general Jean-Pierre Boyer came to power and reunited the two parts of Haiti.

French School, Early 19th Century Portrait of the King of Haiti Oil on canvas Image size: 19 x 15 inches Original gilt frame

George Francis Joseph A.R.A. (1764-1846) Officer of the Late 1st Hussars, K.G.L.

Provenance: -Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1817 under the title ‘Portrait of and Officer of the Late 1st Hussars’ (cat. No. 393)

Born in Dublin in 1764, George Francis Joseph spent most of his working life in London, where he practised as a portraitist and illustrator. Joseph entered the Royal Academy schools in 1784, initially training as an engraver. He was a constant exhibitor at both the Royal Academy, where he was elected as an Associate in 1813, and at the British Institution. Although he also produced numerous designs for book illustrations, Joseph is best known as a portrait painter. His portraits of the Prime Minister Spencer Perceval (1812), and Sir Stamford Raffles (1817), reside in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

This dashing portrait is a fine example of Joseph’s work, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1817 under the title ‘Portrait of an Officer of the Late First Hussars, K.G.L.’ (cat. No.393). The K.G.L., or King’s German Legion, was formed following the occupation of Hanover by Napoleon and the formal dissolution of the Electorate of Hanover at the Convention of Artlenburg in 1803. Many of its members were former Hanoverian soldiers, who travelled to England after their regiments in Hanover had been disbanded to serve in the British Army under the deposed Elector of Hanover, King George III. The legion was a mixed corps, made up of a combination of infantry, artillery and cavalry regiments. It saw active service as an integral part of the British Army from its formation in 1803, up until its disbandment in 1816. The cavalry regiments of the K.G.L., including the 1st Regiment of Hussars, were renowned for their daring in the field, and for the excellent care and fondness that they regarded their horses. They fought across the Peninsular and Waterloo campaigns and were described in the military memoirs of Edward Costello of the 95th Rifles as ‘the finest and most effective [cavalry] I ever saw in action’ (Costello, The Peninsula and Waterloo Campaigns, pp.24-25).

Although the identity of the sitter is currently unknown, he was clearly a high-ranking officer who had distinguished himself in battle, as evidenced by the medal on his chest, which has been identified as a Knight’s division of the Royal Guelphic Order, otherwise known as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order. This highly prestigious order was created by the Prince Regent, later George IV, in 1815 as a Hanoverian order of chivalry and named after the House of Guelph, from whom the Hanoverian monarchs were descended.

George Francis Joseph A.R.A. Officer of the Late 1st Hussars, K.G.L. Oil on canvas, signed Image size: 34 x 27 inches