Studio of Sir Peter Lely

Portrait of the artist, half-length, wearing a brown cloak

Lot Closed

July 7, 01:35 PM GMT

Estimate

7,000 - 10,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

The Property of a Private Collector

Studio of Sir Peter Lely

Soest 1618 - 1680 London

Portrait of the artist, half-length, wearing a brown cloak

bears signature upper left: P: Lely Eq: aur^j: / ipse Pinx^t:

oil on canvas

unframed: 75.2 x 62.6 cm.; 29⅞ x 24¾ in.

framed: 94.4 x 82 cm.; 37⅛ x 32⅜ in.

William Pleydell-Bouverie, 7th Earl of Radnor (1895–1968), Longford Castle, Salisbury;
By whom sold, London, Christie's, 27 July 1945, lot 27 (as Sir Peter Lely);
Lt. Col. G.H. Bryant, by 1951;
Anonymous sale (‘The Property of a Gentleman’), London, Replica Shoes 's, 13 March 1985, lot 36 (as studio of Lely);
Anonymous sale (‘The Property of a Gentleman’), London, Replica Shoes 's, 8 November 1995, lot 36 (as studio of Lely);
With Philip Mould, London;
From whom acquired by the present owner.

Leamington Spa, Royal Leamington Spa Art Gallery, Art Treasures of Warwickshire, 2 August – 30 September 1951, no. 32 (as Sir Peter Lely, Self portrait, lent by Lt. Col. G.H. Bryant, O.B.E., M.C.).

Another version of this work, comparable in size and also attributed to the studio of Sir Peter Lely, is recorded in the Royal Collection.¹ The painting most likely derives from Lely's Self Portrait with Hugh May at Audley End, in which the artist depicts himself alongside the architect Hugh May and a bust of Grinling Gibbons, in order to commemorate May's appointment as Comptroller of the King's Works at Windsor Castle.²

¹Oil on canvas, 77.3 x 65.4 cm.; https://www.rct.uk/collection/406034/portrait-of-the-artist

² https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/sir-peter-lely-16181680-and-hugh-may-16211684-267138