Sir Peter Lely (Soest 1618 - 1680 London), Portrait of lady Elizabeth Seymour (d.1697) when a child. Photo Sotheby's

inscribed lower left: The Lady Elizabeth Seymoure, / Heiress of William Marquis / of Hertforde, afterwards / married to Thomas, Earle / of Ailesbury and Elgin. oil on canvas; 125.5 by 103 cm.; 49 1/2 by 40 1/2 in. Estimation 30,000-40,000 GBP. Lot vendu: 37,250 GBP

LITTERATURE: By descent from the sitter.

NOTE DE CATALOGUE: The sitter was the daughter of Henry Seymour, Lord Beauchamp (1626-1654), and his wife, Mary Capel, sister of the Earl of Essex (later Duchess of Beaufort). She was the granddaughter of William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset (1588-1660) and the sister of William, 3rd Duke of Somerset (1654-1671). This first early portrait painted by Lely around 1660 predates her marriage to Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury in 1676. She died just twenty years later, but not before she had inherited the great Tottenham estates at Savernake from her brother, who died unmarried in 1671, thus bringing the estate into the Bruce family, in whose hands it has remained until the present day

Sotheby's. Old Master & British Paintings Day Sale. Londres | 05 juil. 2012 www.sothebys.com