William Willoughby Cole, 3rd Earl of Enniskillen (1807-1886)
C. P. (fl.c.1890)
Category
Art / Miniatures
Date
circa 1890
Materials
Watercolour on ivory
Measurements
70 x 57 mm
Order this imageCollection
Florence Court, County Fermanagh
NT 630891
Summary
Portrait miniature, watercolour painting on ivory, William Willoughby Cole, 3rd Earl of Enniskillen (1807-1886) by C.P. (fl.c.1890). c.1890. Oval. Head and shoulders portrait of an elderly man, turned to the left, gazing to the left, in a dark suit, purpoe tie and white collar. Grey eyes, grey hair and moustache, aged 79. Bluish background. Signed with monogram left centre, P.C? Front of frame engraved, 'William Willoughby 3rd Earl of Enniskillen/ob Nov 12th 1886 Aetat 79'. Reverse of frame with lock of hair and inscription , 'Honour all men, Love the Brotherhood, fear God, honour the King'. Oval. William Willoughby Cole (1807-1886), styled Viscount Cole until 1840, when he succeeded his father as 3rd Earl of Enniskillen. He married (1) in 1844, Jane Casamajor (1815-1855) and (2) in 1865, the Hon, Mary Emma Brodrick, daughter of the 6th Viscount Middleton. The most distinguished member of his family, the 3rd Earl was an amateur geologist who adapted the south pavilion of Florence Court to take one of the largest collections of fossil fish in the world, comprising 9,658 specimens. Having gone blind he sold it for the record sum of £3,500 to the British Museum which transferred it in 1883 to become part of one of the founding collections of the National History Museum, along with that of his friend, Sir Philip Egerton of Oulton Park. The name of the artist with the initials C.P. (or P.C.) is not known. He or she may have been Charles Park (fl.1897), Charles Perkins (fl.1874-87) or Constance Pitcairn (exh. Royal Academy 1881-1904). A small oil at Florence Court of Charlotte Baird, wife of the 4th Earl of Enniskillen, appears to be signed with the same monogram. The miniature was painted posthumously, possibly from a photograph.
Marks and inscriptions
Honour all men, Love the Brotherhood, fear God, honour the King (reverse of frame with lock of hair)
Makers and roles
C. P. (fl.c.1890), artist