William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire (1672-1729)
Charles Jervas (Dublin 1675 – London 1739)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1700 - 1729
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
2337 x 1359 mm (92 x 53 ½ in)
Order this imageCollection
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
NT 1129125
Caption
The picture uses almost the same pattern for the face as the better-known Jervas at Chatsworth, which shows him seated, with the Boulle cabinet made to contain his coin collection. The picture must have been painted during one of the Duke’s two periods as Lord Steward of the Household, 1707–1710, or 1714–1716. Since Jervas only returned to England in 1709, and though the Duke was made a Knight of the Garter in 1710, it seems less likely to celebrate that, than his return to office under the new Hanoverian dynasty. The pose is very similar to that of at least two of Jervas’s portraits of peers in Garter robes of the 1720s, ‘John, 2nd Duke of Montagu’ (Boughton); and 2nd Viscount Townshend (a studio version is at Blickling, National Trust). The present picture appears to be a little more solidly planted, and less finicky, than either.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire (1672-1729) by Charles Jervas (Dublin 1675 – London 1739). A full-length portrait, standing, head turned slightly to the left, wearing Garter robes, his left hand on his hip; his plumed hat on a pedestal, left, against which his staff of office is resting.
Provenance
In Catalogue of Paintings at Hardwick, [1786–1792]; by descent until, following the death of Edward William Spencer Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire (1895 - 1950), Hardwick Hall and its contents were accepted by HM Treasury in part payment of death duties and transferred to the National Trust, in 1959
Credit line
Hardwick Hall, The Devonshire Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
bottom in gold 2nd Duke of Devonshire
Makers and roles
Charles Jervas (Dublin 1675 – London 1739), artist