Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680)
Portrait of a young lady and child, probably Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine and Duchess of Clevelandt
LELY MASTERPIECE TO BE OFFERED AT CHRISTIE’S IN JULY
July 2, 2007 – Christie’s announce that they will offer at auction a masterpiece by Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680) traditionally considered to depict a favoured mistress of King Charles II, and thought to have been a work owned by the King and kept in the Royal bedchamber at the Palace of Whitehall. Portrait of a young lady and child, probably Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine and Duchess of Cleveland (1640-1709) by Sir Peter Lely, the finest painter of the Restoration and official artist to Charles II, is being offered at the auction of Important Old Master and British Pictures on 5 July by the Trustees of the Denys Eyre Bower Bequest and is expected to realise £1,500,000-2,000,000.
]]>
The present work is a masterpiece by Sir Peter Lely and one of the most overtly sensuous portraits to have been painted in 17th Century England. Traditionally believed to depict Nell Gwyn (1651-1787) with her son Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, it may well be the picture described as “Madam Gwyn’s naked portrait, with a cupid”, protected by a “sliding piece” designed by Hendrik Danckerts which was recorded in King James II’s inventory of 1688, three years after the death of Charles II. ‘Pretty witty Nell’ as Samuel Pepys called her, was the most popular of King Charles II’s several mistresses.
While no other potential candidate is known for the picture recorded in the 1688 inventory, factors associated with the sitter’s features, colouring and age, suggest that it is more likely to be Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine and Duchess of Cleveland (1640-1709), who preceded Nell Gwyn as the favoured Royal mistress and who dominated Court and the public imagination during the first ten years of the King’s reign. The sliding piece mentioned in the inventory appears to refer to a secret panel in the Royal bedchamber. The private manner in which such a work would have been kept may account for the possible confusion over the identity of the sitter when referred to in the inventory of 1688. Historically, the present work has been considered to portray one of Charles II’s most notable mistresses; when it was acquired at auction in London in 1950, it was catalogued as a portrait of Barbara Villiers, and it was exhibited as a portrait of Nell Gwyn at the National Portrait Gallery’s The Masque of Beauty in 1972.
Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680) was born in Holland and moved to England in the early 1640s. He was the natural successor to Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) and quickly found success portraying both Charles I and also Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, who famously asked to be portrayed in a true likeness – ‘warts and all’. In 1661, Lely was appointed Principal Painter to King Charles II and the following years heralded a new artistic age with the pleasure-loving court of King Charles II at its epicentre.
The painting is being offered at auction by The Trustees of Denys Eyre Bower Bequest following discussion with and the consent of the Charity Commission. The late Denys Bower was a prolific collector; in 1955 he acquired Chiddingstone Castle, a magnificent house set near the National Trust-owned Chiddingstone village in Kent, and filled the property with his extensive and eclectic collection of art and antiques. When Bower died in 1977, he bequeathed the Castle and its collections to the National Trust who declined the gift due to the lack of an endowment fund which made it financially unviable. Since 1985, the Castle has been run by an independent charitable trust. The sale of this picture is a last resort measure in order to prevent the closure and sale of the Castle and all proceeds will be invested in re-opening the Castle to the public and establishing an endowment fund in order to provide a future for the Castle and its Collections.
Follow us on:
