Portrait of an unknown member of the Bourchier family
British (English) School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
c. 1750
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
737 x 610 mm (29 x 24 in)
Order this imageCollection
Beningbrough Hall, North Yorkshire
NT 1191141
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, portrait of a young woman, British (English) School, c. 1740 to 1750. A half-length portrait of a young woman, turned to proper left, head turned to proper right, gazing at the spectator, wearing a low-cut voluminous white chemise, with a loosely draped cloak of half blue silk trimmed with pearls and half gold silk with gold embroidered trim. See NT 1191909 for associated frame.
Full description
In place today, over the doors of the drawing room, are two female portraits: NT 191140 & NT 1191141; the former a late-Stuart sitter of circa 1680-90, the later a mid-Georgian woman. In the 1958 auction catalogue for the sale of the contents of Beningbrough, undertaken after the death of Enid, Lady Chesterfield, the pair formed one lot, identified as 'Elizabeth, wife of Henry Mackworth', and 'Julianna, wife of Sir John Dolben Bt'; neither is labelled and it is unclear which work is which and so the attribution of the names to the current records is completely arbitrary and, adding to the confusion, have been swopped at times. In addition, it appears that these identifications were only made in 1958 for the auction and appear to copy the details of similar sized and described works in the 1910 sale catalogue for Holme Lacey (lots 802 and 803), previous home of Lord and Lady Chesterfield. Both paintings can also be seen in their current positions in photographs of the drawing room dating back to at least 1906 (Country Life, 8 September 1906, pp. 345, 348) and therefore can not have been brought into the hall by Lady Chesterfield who did not buy the house until 1917. As a result, it seems almost certain that both portraits show unidentified members of the Bourchier family and were part of the large collection of family portraits inherited with the house by Lewis and Victoria Dawnay in 1891. Lewis Payn Dawnay and Victoria made some alterations to the hall in 1892, knocking together two rooms in the state apartment to make for a new and enlarged drawing room. This included moving the door frame and associated wood panelling and carving at the western end of the room. A note in Lady Victoria's diary records “28th September 1892: The pictures over the drawing room doors and chimney piece were put up today”. The Dawnays engaged the services of London picture restorer John Lewis Rutley jnr (1836-1921) (trading as Reynolds Gallery) to catalogue, re-frame and re-hang a selection of pictures as a result of these alterations. Rutley’s labels can be found on the reverse of a number of the overdoor portraits, but none now survives in the case of NT1191141. Other paintings inherited by the Dawnays with Beningbrough in 1891 were auctioned by Christies 3.12.1892. Lot 127 is described as 'Portrait of a Lady in blue, white and brown dress - oval'. This lot appears to have been withdrawn from sale and it is possible that it is this portrait, probably reframed to fit in the remodelled Drawing Room at Beningbrough at this time instead.The identification of the sitter is impossible to be know, but based upon the likely date, Mildred Bourchier (1716-96), wife of John Boucrhier jnr (1710-1759) is one candidate, with John's unmarried sister, Mary Bourchier (1711-1747), another. Compiled from research undertaken by Matthew Constantine, Cultural Heritage Curator, Yorkshire
Provenance
Probably inherited with other contents of Beningbrough Hall by Lewis Payan Dawnay in 1891; purchased in 1917 by Enid, Lady Chesterfield as part of fixtures of the hall; following death of Lady Chesterfield in 1957, included in sale of contents of Beningbrough held by Curtis & Henson, June 1958, lot 1127, as one of “A pair, half length portraits of Elizabeth, wife of Henry Mackworth, and of Julianna, wife of Sir John Dolben Bt., (in ovals)” ‘by or attributed to’ Sir Godfrey Kneller". Pair purchased for transfer to the National Trust for £115/10. See also NT: 1191140
Makers and roles
British (English) School, artist attributed to Jonathan Richardson the elder (London 1665 – London 1745), artist previously catalogued as attributed to Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646 - London 1723), artist