Colonel, The Hon. John Russell (1620-1687)
attributed to Johann Kerseboom (d. London 1708)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1685 - 1687
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
2184 x 1340 mm (86 x 52 3/4 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
NT 1129132
Caption
The sitter was the third son of Francis, 4th Earl of Bedford and the Hon. Catherine Chandos. He was a leading Royalist commander in the Civil War, and a conspirator (for which he was imprisoned) under the Protectorate. At the Restoration, in November 1660, he raised, and commanded for some 21 years, a regiment of foot-guards for Charles II, which later became the Grenadier Guards. He sold the command of this for 5,000 guineas. The picture was previously attributed to Lely.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Colonel The Hon. John Russell (1620-1687), attributed to Johann Kerseboom (fl.1680 - d.London 1708), circa 1685. A full-length portrait of an aged man, standing to right in a landscape with a dog, his right hand on his hip, his left held out; he wears a long brown surcoat with lace cravat, scarlet and gold sash, embroidered sleeves and white cuffs; in the background an army under review. He was the third son of Francis, 4th Earl of Bedford and the Hon. Catherine Chandos. A leading Royalist commander, as a colonel, in the Civil War (there are two versions of Dobson’s enigmatic conversation-piece at Ombersley and at Ashdown House) and a conspirator (for which he was imprisoned) under the Protectorate, at the Restoration, in November 1660, he raised, and thereafter for 21 years commanded, a regiment of foot-guards for Charles II, which later became the Grenadier Guards. He sold the command of this for 5,000 guineas.
Provenance
Seen by Horace Walpole in the Green Velvet Drawing Room at Chatsworth in 1760;in catalogue of movebale paintings in 1792; in Agar-Ellis 1817 catalogue of Hardwick Hall; 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
bottom left Lord Russell
Makers and roles
attributed to Johann Kerseboom (d. London 1708), artist previously catalogued as attributed to Sir Peter Lely (Soest 1618 – London 1680), artist
References
Walpole 1927-28 Paget Toynbee (ed.), 'Horace Walpole's Journals of Visits to Country Seats, etc.', 1760-62, Walpole Society XVI, 1927 -28 pp. 9-80, p.29, 1760 Chatsworth: