Christie's : The Gordon Collection of Portrait Miniatures

Nicholas Hilliard (1547 - 1619) A young lady aged 16, probably a member of the Strangways family

Lot 21. A young lady aged 16, probably a member of the Strangways family, in black dress edged with brown and black ribbon, brown and black rosette worn at corsage, the sleeves and bodice slashed to reveal brown, white standing lace collar, white gauze scarf worn around her neck decorated with two yellow flowers and tucked into dress at corsage, white lace cuff, jewels worn around left wrist, gem-set gold ring worn on her right thumb, pearl necklace with several strands, pearl and diamond-set enamelled gold pendant depicting a sea-monster suspended from her left sleeve, with three drop-pearls, flowers in her upswept fair hair; blue background
Estimate: £50,000-70,000

Provenance : The Duke of Beaufort; Christie's, London, 13 December 1983, lot 87.

Note : The motto 'Espoier me comforte' is associated with both the Strangways and Tilney families. Philip Tilney of Shelley, Suffolk (1540/1-1601/2) had only one son, Charles Tilney (1561-1586) who was hanged, drawn and quartered for High Treason as a Member of the Babington Conspiracy. No sisters or children feature in the printed pedigree.
The motto appeared on the Standard of Sir Giles Strangways of Melbury, Dorset (1486-1546). His great-grandson, John Strangways of Melbury Dorset (d.1593), married Dorothy (d.1592), daughter of Sir John Thynne of Longleat. They had three sons, two of whom died without issue, and three daughters: Dorothy, Grace and Anne, and it has been suggested that the present miniature depicts the youngest of the three daughters, Anne. There is no record of the dates of birth of the sisters and no other daughters of Sir Giles Strangways and his wife Dorothy are noted on the Strangways pedigree recorded at the 1623 Heralds' Visitation of Dorset (College of Arms Ms: IC22/136-137). Grace's eldest son John Chamberlayne was born in 1608 or 1609 when the present sitter would have been aged twenty. The date of Grace's marriage to Edmund Chamerlayne of Maugersbury is not known, neither is her age. Had she married at the age of eighteen it is possible that Grace is the daughter depicted in the miniature, however it is more probable that Anne is the sitter. Anne married George Norton of Abbots Leigh, Somerset.
We are grateful to Thomas Woodcock and Janet Grant for their assistance in the Tilney Strangways research.

John Hoskins (c. 1590 - 1665)  A gentleman called Inigo Jones

Lot 16. A gentleman called Inigo Jones, in black gown, white lawn collar with tassels, black skull cap, long curling brown hair, moustache and small pointed beard; pillar and landscape background with castle in the distance. on vellum  oval, 2 13/16 in. (71 mm.) high, gilt-metal frame, the reverse engraved 'Inigo Jones by S. Cooper'
Estimate: £20,000-30,000

Provenance : Miss J. M. Seymour; Sotheby's, London, 9 May 1928, lot 50 (as Inigo Jones by Samuel Cooper).
Robert Bayne-Powell (1910-1994), C.B., Collection.

Litteraature : D. Foskett, Samuel Cooper and his contemporaries, National Portrait Gallery, 1974, no. 57, illustrated p. 26.

Exposition : London, National Portrait Gallery, Samuel Cooper and his contemporaries, 1974, no 57 (as An Unknown Man, called Inigo Jones, lent by Robert Bayne-Powell).

Samuel Cooper (1609 - 1672)  A lady called Mrs. John Lewis

Lot 23. A lady called Mrs John Lewis (née Sarah Foote), in white- bordered blue silk dress, gem-set brooch flanked by four pearls, suspended with drop-pearl and worn at corsage, a strand of pearls in her upswept fair curling hair and falling over her shoulders - signed with initials and dated 'S. C. 1647' (mid-left) - on vellum laid down on card - oval, 2 1/8 in. (54 mm.) high, gold frame
Estimate: £20,000-30,000

Provenance : The Hon. Felicity Samuel, 1974.
The property of a descendant of the 2nd Viscount Bearsted; Christie's, London, 27 March 1984, lot 298.

Litterature : D. Foskett, Samuel Cooper 1609-1672, London, 1974, appendix IV, p. 109.
A. Darmon, 'Les miniatures: du grand art', in Art et Valeurs, no. 11, February 1990, illustrated in colour p. 17.

Exposition : London, National Portrait Gallery, Samuel Cooper and his contemporaries, 1974, no. 30 (lent by The Hon. Felicity Samuel), illustrated p. 17.

Note : Sarah, second daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Foote, Bt., Lord Mayor of London, and Elizabeth, daughter of William Mott of Plaistow, Essex first married c. 1644 John Lewis of Ledston, York (c. 1615-1671), created Bt. in 1660; and secondly Denzil Onslow of Pirford, Surrey, one of the commissioners of the Navy. She had two daughters by her first marriage; the elder Elizabeth, married Theodophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon; the younger Mary, married Robert (Leke), 3rd Earl of Scarsdale.

John Smart (1742/43 - 1811)  the Hon. John Douglas (1756 - 1818)

Lot 57. The Hon. John Douglas (1756-1818), in the red and blue uniform of the 1st Foot Guards, powdered hair en queue - signed with initials and dated 'J.S. 1779' (lower left) - oval, 1 7/16 in. (37 mm.) high, gold bracelet frame with later suspension loop
Estimate: £6,000-8,000

Provenance : With Limner Antiques, London, 1973.

Note : The Hon. John Douglas (1756-1818) was the youngest son of James, 14th Earl of Morton. In 1784 he married Frances Lascelles, daughter of Edward, 1st Earl of Harewood.

The present lot was purchased from Limner Antiques in 1973 and was the first miniature in the Gordon Collection.

Philip Jean (1755-1802) Mrs. Jean, the artist's wife

Lot 71. Anne Jean (née Noel), the artist's wife, seated in front of the harbour wall at St. Helier, Jersey, holding a miniature of her husband in her left hand, wearing lace-trimmed blue dress with white fichu and stole over left shoulder, her dark brown upswept hair dressed with a blue ribbon and falling in a twist over her right shoulder - signed and dated 'P. Jean pinx 1781' (lower left) and inscribed 'Æ 17' (lower right) - oval, 2 15/16 in. (75 mm.) high, modern silver-gilt frame - signed, inscribed and dated on backing paper 'aged 23 P Jean pinxit 1781'
Estimate: £5,000-7,000

Litterature : D. Foskett, A Dictionary of British Miniature Painters, London, 1972, I, p. 72, II, p. 58, illustrated pl. 186, no. 473.

Note : Anne Jean (d. 1787), was the artist's first wife and mother of the miniaturist Roger Jean (1783-1828). A smaller version of the present miniature was sold, Sotheby's, London, 9 June 1969, lot 48. A further miniature of the artist's wife was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1803, no. 863.
For a miniature by Roger Jean, see lot 88.

Jean-Baptiste-Jacques Augustin (1759-1832) William, 3rd Viscount Courtenay, later 9th Earl of Devon

Lot 105. William, 3rd Viscount Courtenay, later 9th Earl of Devon, in heavily gold-embroidered black coat with high-standing gold-embroidered red collar, and high-standing lace-bordered white collar with tassels, blue cloak draped over left shoulder - signed and dated 'Le Ch. er Augustin. 1824' (lower left) - 1½ in. (38 mm.) diam., silver-gilt brooch frame with beaded border, silk and glazed reverse.
Estimate: £6,000-8,000

Litterature : H. Bouchot, La miniature française 1750-1825, Paris, 1910, p. 221.

Note : William Courtenay (1768-1835), also known as William Beckford's young paramour, 'Kitty', succeeded his father as 3rd Viscount Courtenay in 1788. In the early 1780s he sat for his portrait for Romney, which had been commissioned by his admirer, William Beckford. Beckford was forced to embark on a decade of travel and social isolation on the Continent and is now known as a great collector and bibliophile. Viscount Courtenay fled to America in 1811 to escape his creditors, residing at the Claremont on the Hudson before purchasing the Château Dreveil in Paris in 1825-1826, where he lived in great style until his death. Twelve days before Lord Courtenay's death, the House of Lords revived in his favour the Earldom of Devon, which had been considered extinct for nearly three centuries.
A preparatory sketch by Augustin, inscribed in pencil 'Milord Courtenay', was in the Pierpont Morgan Collection, sold Christie's, London, 24-27 June 1935, lot 785. Another miniature of this sitter by Richard Cosway, R. A. was sold at Christie's, London, 10 December 2002, lot 120, and a further smaller example in the manner of Cosway of the present sitter was sold at Phillips, London, 6 July 1983, lot 219. See also Stephen Lloyd's exhibition catalogue Richard & Maria Cosway, Edinburgh, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1995, and London, National Portrait Gallery, 1995/1996, p. 122, no. 93, colour pl. 104.

Christie's. The Gordon Collection of Portrait Miniatures. 20 November 2007. 8 King Street, St. James's, London