John Sheffield, 3rd Earl of Mulgrave, later Marquess of Normanby, then 1st Duke of the County of Buckingham and of Normanby KG, PC (1648-1720)
Simon Dubois (Antwerp 1632 - London 1708)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1698
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
343 x 279 m (13 ½ x 11 in)
Order this imageCollection
Hughenden, Buckinghamshire
NT 428995
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, John Sheffield, 3rd Earl of Mulgrave, later Marquess of Normandy, then 1st Duke of the County of Buckingham and of Normanby KG, PC (1648-1720) by Simon Dubois (Antwerp 1632 - London 1708), signed – or bears signature – in bottom right hand spandrel: S. du. Bois. Ft 1698.. Painted oval. Head and shoulder length portrait, long, brown wig, darkly clothed, white scarf around neck. Traditionally called John Sheffield, 3rd Earl of Mulgrave (succ.1658), who was created Marquess of Normanby by William III in 1694 (having previously attempted to extract a marquessate from the fleeing James II) and 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby by Queen Anne (whom he had wooed as Princess) in 1702/3. He was Lord Chamberlain in 1685–88, Lord Privy Seal in 1702–05, Lord President of the Council in 1711–14, and one of the Lord Justices of the Realm after Queen Anne’s death, 1 August–18 September 1714. He was High Church, unprincipled, and an indifferent poet.
Provenance
Recorded in Disraeli’s hand-written list of June 1879 as hanging in the Library, as: ‘French portrait by [–––––], who lived long in England, patronised by Lord Somers, & painted many of our chief persons.’ It can be seen in Starling’s photograph of that room taken in 1881, and published in the Illustrated London News on 22 April 1893, in the group of pictures hanging to the right of the arcade; 1881 inv. (no.160), as ‘Earl of Sheffield, Marquis of Normanby, Duke of Buckingham’, with the artist characterised in Disraeli’s words, but his name left blank; given to the National Trust with Hughenden Manor by the Disraelian Society, 1947
Credit line
Hughenden Manor, The Disraeli Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Simon Dubois (Antwerp 1632 - London 1708), artist
References
Ingamells, 2009: John Ingamells, Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714, National Portrait Gallery, London, 2009, pp. 32-34