An Unknown Lady
possibly Pieter Tillemans (Antwerp 1684 – Suffolk 1734)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1700 - 1799
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1470 x 1235 x 58 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Chirk Castle, Wrexham
NT 1171141
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, An Unknown Lady, possibly Pieter Tillemans (Antwerp 1684 – Suffolk 1734), previously catalogued as manner of Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - Blackfriars 1641), 18th century. A portrait of a woman of uncertain age, standing three-quarter-length, head slightly inclined to the right, gazing to the right of spectator, wearing a single-strand pearl necklet and a décolleté blue dress, fastened from bust to waist with jewelled buttons, which also feature on her sleeves, her left hand, just above her waist, holding her cloak which falls over her right arm, her slightly outstretched right hand, holding a rose. Formerly known as Charlotte Bridgeman, Lady Myddelton, but the costume is of an earlier generation. The handling suggests an 18th century pastiche, possibly by Tillemans. What was thought to be the absence of a likeness of this important ancestress may have accounted for the imposture.
Provenance
Previously amongst the chattels that, in 1978, were acquired along with Chirk Castle from Lt-Col Ririd Myddelton (1902–1988) by the National Land Fund and handed, on loan for 99 years, to the Secretary of State for Wales. In 1981 Chirk was transferred into the ownership of the National Trust. Chattels from the estate of Lady Margaret Myddelton (1910 - 2003) were accepted in lieu by HM Treasury and transferred to the National Trust in 2006.
Credit line
Chirk Castle, The Myddelton Collection (accepted in lieu by HM Treasury and transferred to the National Trust in 2006)
Marks and inscriptions
Verso: Late inscription in pencil on stretcher: Myddelton daughter of Sir Orlando Bridgeman
Makers and roles
possibly Pieter Tillemans (Antwerp 1684 – Suffolk 1734), artist previously catalogued as manner of Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641), artist