Richard Butler, 1st Earl of Arran (1639 – 1685)
manner of Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646 - London 1723)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1600 - 1685
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1245 x 1003 mm (49 x 39 1/2 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
NT 1129130
Caption
Richard Butler, Earl of Arran (1639-1685) was also made Lord Butler of Weston (in the English peerage) in 1673. He was twice married: firstly to Lady Mary Stuart (died 1668), by whom he had no children; and secondly, to Dorothy Ferres (m. 1673), by whom he had an only daughter, Charlotte. This picture is inscribed with the name of ‘James Earl of Arran’ – the Scottish title held for some time by the 4th Duke of Hamilton and 1st of Brandon (1658-1712). However, not only would the Scots peer have been too young to have been the sitter shown here, but he was also a Jacobite, and so fundamentally opposed to the Wiggish Devonshires. The sitter is very likely to be Richard Butler, who was created Earl of Arran in the Irish peerage in 1662. His age is much more compatible with the present sitter and was also the brother of the 1st Duke of Devonshire’s wife, Mary Butler.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Richard Butler, 1st Earl of Arran (1639 - 1686), manner of Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646/9 - London 1723). Inscribed, bottom left, in gold: James Earl of Arran/A DNI 1684. A three-quarter length portrait, turned to the left, gazing at spectator, wearing full armour, his right hand on his helmet beside him, a baton held in his left.
Provenance
In Swift 1811 inventory and thence 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
Recto: bottom right James Earl of Arran/Anno 1684. Verso: Inscribed on stretcher in pencil: Over doorway leading to dressing room Rect: Tablet affixed to bottom centre of frame, inscribed in black on gilt: 119 JAMES, EARL OF ARRAN, AND DUKE OF HAMILTON. Tablet affixed to bottom left of frame, inscribed: 140
Makers and roles
manner of Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646 - London 1723), artist