Possibly Henry Liddell (d. 1770)
Michael Dahl (Stockholm 1659 - London 1743)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1734
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1469 x 1232 x 70 mm
Order this imageCollection
Chirk Castle, Wrexham
NT 1171143
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Possibly Henry Liddell (d.1770) by Michael Dahl (Stockholm 1656 – London 1743), circa 1733/4. A three-quarter-length portrait of the brother of Mary Liddell who married John Myddelton (1685 - 1747), square on, left hand in jacket, standing, turned slightly to the right, head inclined slightly to left, gazing at spectator, wearing a blue suit, white long, loosely hanging stock, shirt with frilled cuffs, sword hilt to right, leaning on his right arm against a pedestal, the fingers of his left hand tucked into his coat at the waist. This may be the 'Half Lengthe Picture' for which Dahl was paid 30 guineas by J. Myddelton, 27 July 1734, with a further 3 guineas for frame.
Full description
Associated with Chirk Castle
Provenance
Commissioned by the sitter's brother-in-law and possibly the painting that on 27 July 1734, John Myddelton (1685-1747) paid Dahl 30 guineas for a ‘Half Lengthe Picture’ plus a further 3 guineas for the frame; thence by descent; in house inventory, 1872, “Picture Gallery State Saloon Mr Riddle” ; in Chirk Castle house catalogue, c.1900 as in Saloon (shown on diagrammatic hang [east wall, bottom register] and manuscript picture list) as “24. Mr Leddell.” and thence by descent; with some of the contents, in 1978, that 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). Purchased by the National Trust from Mr Guy Myddelton in 2023.
Credit line
Chirk Castle, The Myddelton Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Verso, label: Mr. Liddell / brother to Mrs Myddelton / (Mary Liddell) Verso, label: Drawing Room No.9 / Sir Thomas Myddelton
Makers and roles
Michael Dahl (Stockholm 1659 - London 1743), artist
References
Solkin 2015 David H. Solkin, Art in Britain 1660 - 1815, Pelican History of Art, Yale University Press, 2015, p. 87, fig. 84