Sir William Brownlow, 4th Bt (1665-1702)
Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646 - London 1723)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1685 - 1702
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
2440 x 1600 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Belton House, Lincolnshire
NT 436071.1
Caption
This portrait hangs on the stairs at Belton with Kneller’s portrait of ‘Dorothy Mason, Lady Brownlow’. However, they were not intended to be a pair: he faces the same way as her, he is smaller in scale, and his frame is an attenuated copy of hers. Sir William was the son of Sir Richard Brownlow (1628-68), 2nd Bt. and Elizabeth Freke (1634-84). He inherited Belton after the death of his elder brother, 'Young' Sir John, in 1697, but never lived there himself. His daughter Anne (1694-1779) married Sir Richard Cust (1680-1734) and his son, Sir John Brownlow (1690-1754), 5th Bt., was created Viscount Tyrconnel and Baron Charleville in 1718.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Sir William Brownlow, 4 Baronet (1665 - 1702) by Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646/9 - London 1723). Inscribed in gold bottom left: SR WILLIAM BROWNLOWE BART / KNELLER PINXT. Pendant to NT 436071.2 Full-length portrait, turned to the left, gazing at the spectator, standing on a terrace and leaning agains a sculpted stone pedestal, in long pale brown wig, wearing knee-length classical dress in grey satin with gold braiding, white lace cravat, grey stockings, calf-high brown boots. A large dark green velvet drape is drawn back on the left to reveal a stone balustrade and a distant view of a formal garden and cloudy sky. Sir William Brownlow, 4th Baronet (1665 - 1702), was born on 5 November 1665, the son of Sir Richard Brownlow 2nd Baronet (1628 - 1668) and Elizabeth Freke (1634 - 1684). He married, firstly Dorothy Mason (1664 - c.1700), daughter of Sir Richard Mason and Anne Margaret Long. Henrietta Brett (1681 - 1718). He was MP for Peterborough between 1689 and 1698, and Bishop's Castle between 1698 and 1700. He succeeded to the title of 4th Baronet Brownlow of Humby on 16 July 1697. He inherited Belton after the death of his elder brother, 'Young' Sir John, in 1697, but never lived here himself. Children of Sir William Brownlow, 4th Baronet, and Dorothy Mason were: Anne Brownlow (1685 - 1779) who married Sir Richard Cust, 2nd Baronet of Pinchbeck (1680 - 1734), Richard Brownlow (1689 - 1690), John Brownlow, 1st and last Viscount Tyrconne (1690 - 1754), Dorothy Brownlow (b.1695) and William Brownlow (1699 - 1726).
Provenance
Purchased with a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) from Edward John Peregrine Cust, 7th Baron Brownlow, C. St J. (b.1936) in 1984
Credit line
Belton House, The Brownlow Collection (acquired with the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund by the National Trust in 1984)
Marks and inscriptions
Sir William Brownlowe Bart / Kneller Pix.t.
Makers and roles
Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646 - London 1723), artist