General Thomas Tollemache (c.1651–1694)
Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646 - London 1723)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1688 - 1730
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1554 x 1292 x 50 mm
Order this imageCollection
Ham House, Surrey
NT 1139784
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, General Thomas Tollemache (c.1651–1694) by Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646/9 - London 1723), 1688, enlarged 1730, inscribed lower left : Genl: Tollemache. A three-quarter-length portrait of a man, standing, turned to the right, gazing at the spectator over his right shoulder, wearing a long brown curled wig and armour and holding a baton in his right arm, with his visor and helmet to the right. The visible seams where canvases have been joined suggests that the painting appears was originally a bust portrait of about 29 x 24 inches (kit-cat size is 36 x 28 in). It may have been enlarged about 1730, to become a pair to the portrait of Frances Worsley, Lady Carteret (NT 1139785), which would have come to Ham after the 4th Earl of Dysart' s marriage to Grace Carteret. General Thomas Tollemache was the younger brother of the 3rd Earl of Dysart; he was the Colonel of the Coldstream Guards on the accession of William III, and soon afterwards advanced to Lt.General. After distinguished service in Ireland and Flanders he was killed leading an attack on Brest. There is a later monument to him at Helmingham Church.
Provenance
In catalogue, around 1820; thence by descent until acquired in 1948 by HM Government when Sir Lyonel, 4th Bt (1854 – 1952) and Sir Cecil Tollemache, 5th Bt (1886 – 1969) presented Ham House to the National Trust, and entrusted to the care of the Victoria & Albert Museum, until 1990, when returned to the care of the National Trust, and to which ownership was transferred in 2002
Credit line
Ham House, The Dysart Collection (purchased by HM Government in 1948 and transferred to the National Trust in 2002)
Makers and roles
Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646 - London 1723), artist
References
Roundell 1904 Julia Ann Elizabeth, Mrs Charles Roundell. Ham House Its History and Art Treasures … with chapters on the library by William Younger Fletcher … & the Miniature Room by G. C. Williamson. London: George Bell & Sons, 1904., Vol.1, engraving facing page 7 - engraved by J.Hallett Kyatt Sc.