Ham House from the South (around 1675-79)
attributed to Hendrick Danckerts (The Hague 1625 - Amsterdam 1680)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1675 - 1679
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
994 x 652 x 39 mm
Place of origin
Ham House
Order this imageCollection
Ham House, Surrey
NT 1139878
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Ham House from the South, circa 1675-79, attributed to Hendrick Danckerts (The Hague 1625 - Amsterdam 1680), circa 1675-1679. The south front of the house is seen from the clearing in the Wilderness with the Duke and Duchess of Lauderdale in the centre of the picture. Further figures and dogs, statuary, seats and plants in containers are depicted on either side of the clearing. Classical statues were normally painted with white lead paint to look like marble but eight shown in the painting still apparently have their lead surfaces exposed. From left of centre, a version of the Giambologna Mercury; right, Venus de Medici; two further lead figures - Worthies; extreme right, a Shepherd, adapted from a classical pose. This shows the formal garden lay-out very clearly. The painting is recorded in the 1683 inventory as being in a closet room belonging to Elizabeth's son, Colonel Tollemache, on the second floor. It was moved to the White Closet sometime in the 20th century. Although the sash windows were fitted in the new rooms they were probably made to resemble Jacobean ones, with their old-fashioned mullions and transoms, which were retained at the ends of the wings.
Provenance
In 1679 inventory and thence by descent until acquired in 1948 by HM Government when Sir Lyonel, 4th Bt (1854 – 1952) and Sir Cecil Tollemache, 5th Bt (1886 – 1969) presented Ham House to the National Trust, and entrusted to the care of the Victoria & Albert Museum, until 1990, when returned to the care of the National Trust, and to which ownership was transferred in 2002
Credit line
Ham House, The Dysart Collection (purchased by HM Government in 1948 and transferred to the National Trust in 2002)
Makers and roles
attributed to Hendrick Danckerts (The Hague 1625 - Amsterdam 1680), artist
References
Prized Possessions: Dutch Paintings from National Trust Houses (exh. cat.), Holburne Museum, Bath 25 May - 16 Sep 2018; Mauritshuis, The Hague, 11 Oct 2018 - 6 Jan 2019; Petworth House, West Sussex, 26 Jan - 24 Mar 2019., pp. 112-3
