Sir John Sherard (1662-1724)
John Riley (London 1646 – London 1691)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1675
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
2184 x 1321 mm (86 x 52 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Belton House, Lincolnshire
NT 436117
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Sir John Sherard (1662-1724) by John Riley (London 1646 – London 1691). Inscribed, bottom right: SR. JOHN SHERARD / RYLE[Y] FECT. A full-length portrait, of a young man, in black and silver embroidered dress with lace cravat, red coat and long flowing wig. Standing in an apartment. He was the son of Richard Sherard (d.1668) of Lobthorpe and Margaret Dewe and the brother-in-law of 'Young' Sir John Brownlow (1659-1697) through his sister Alice (1659-1721); and great-grandson of Sir William. He was made a baronet in 1674 (with special remainder to his brothers) and High Sheriff in 1710/11. He died on 1 January 1724, unmarried. The inscription on his monument in St Mary's, North Witham, by Stanton and Horsnaile, states that: 'He was a Gentleman of Great Sense, Honour and Merit, but prefer'd a Private & Single Life to the Cares of Publick Employments'. A slightly different light is cast upon his retiring nature, by the fact that he was so addicted to a game of dice called 'Hazard', that he had to enter a bond of £2000 with his brother-in-law not to play it. He was succeeded as Baronet by his brothers Sir Richard Sherard, 2nd Bt (d.1730) and Sir Brownlow Sherard, 3rd Bt (c 1676-1736) successively. A three-quarter length portrait of the latter - by its inscription evidently originally from Belton - is at Plas Newydd (NT), to which it will have come through the marriage of their sister, Mary Sherard to Peter Whitcombe, and their daughter's marriage to Brigadier-General Thomas Paget.
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)
Makers and roles
John Riley (London 1646 – London 1691), artist