English School, circa 1600 Portrait of a lady with her small spaniel beside her, an earring in her left ear depicting Cupid, holding a fan, with a writing tablet at her waist oil on panel 88 x 67cm (34 x 26in) Provenance: By family descent in a London private collection Literature: For similar portraits see: Violet A Wilson, Queen Elizabeth's Maids of Honour and Ladies of the Privy Chamber, London: John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd., 1922 - Portrait of Ann Russell, Lady Herbert, p.259 (Collection of the Duke of Beaufort); Portrait of Mary Fytton, Maid of Honour to Queen Elizabeth, frontispiece (from the Collection at Arbury) Sir Roy Strong, The English Icon: Elizabethan and Jacobean Portraiture, The Paul Mellon Foundation for British Art, 1969, Nos. 296-298 - Portraits of Elizabeth Brydges, Lady Kennedy (one at Woburn Abbey, and a full length at Ditchley Park) The sitter is presumably a member of the Court and quite possibly one of the Queen's Maids of Honour, judging by her dress. As a young bride joining the magnificent Court of Elizabeth I, Gloriana, the sitter is wearing pearls which were thought to be the Queen of gems at the time, and she appears to be a girl aged 15 to 20, an heiress of high rank. The present portrait appears to be a marriage portrait - the sitter has her small dog beside her - a symbol of fidelity - and in her left ear hangs an earring depicting Cupid aiming his arrow at a flaming heart. The sitter is wearing some extremely interesting jewellery. The pearl attire on her high padded hair, composed of spiral motifs with peapods, is in the "cosses de pois" style originating in Paris circa 1600, but in use before that. From the central pod hangs a red stone - probably either a spinel or ruby drop attached to a diamond cluster with pearls falling down to her brow. To disguise flaws, diamonds were placed in settings lined with black foil - hence artists painted these stones black with a dot of white paint to convey lustre. Earrings were not necessarily worn in pairs at that time. Unusually this is figurative with Cupid holding his bow to fire an arrow at a flaming heart target. This theme fits with the small dog on the sitter's lap, representing fidelity. Her pearl necklace is standard de luxe for the time but here the swags give emphasis. There is a band of ruby/garnets and pearl clusters at her neckline - with an armlet of similar design composed of clusters linked together, as in a chain. The girdle may be composed of pearl and red stone clusters. The sitter is holding a material bag containing ivory tablets for writing little notes/aide memoires. It would appear to be embroidered inter alia with a pansy meaning 'kind thoughts' (from the French pensée) and showing Prudence looking into her mirror portrayed below a heart. These jewels with fan and book, wired collar, lace cuffs and white satin dress make a statement of wealth, rank and fashion by a newly married English woman circa 1600. Indeed, the choice of white material and pearls (for virginity) and red stones (for love) may well be purposeful. The sitter wears a tightly boned low-neck bodice and farthingale skirt made of richly embroidered Italian silk, trimmed with brocade and ribbons. Similar portraits have appeared at auction in recent years - an early 17th century English School portrait of Lady Parker, which sold for £52,000 at Mitchells of Cockermouth, Cumbria, on 3rd-4th September 2015; and English School, circa 1595-1605, Portrait of Elizabeth Howard, sold from Cowdray Park, West Sussex, at Christie's, London, 13-15 September 2011 for £145,240. We are grateful to Diana Scarisbrick MA, FSA, Jewellery Historian, and to Sir Roy Strong for their assistance with the catalogue entry. A Dendrology report by Ian Tyers is available - Contact Department. On Eastern Baltic oak. Greener and Co. of Liverpool - old framer's label Two small paint losses - tiny - upper right hand corner. Very old panel in three pieces, has wooden rivets. Panels are bowing slightly. 19th Century gilt frame has various chips. Oil on panel. The panel is formed from three boards in vertical alignment. There are butterfly inserts on the reverse of the panel reinforcing the joins. The left hand panel join has a slight concave warp and there is fill and retouching along the length. There is blistering and flaking in the upper right corner. The thin paint layers are worn in some areas such as the hair, but generally in a good condition for the age of the painting. There are scattered retouchings along the joins and other areas. There appears to be some retouching in the face which appears slightly yellow. The varnish is yellowed and semi-matte. The frame has suffered extensively from flaking to the gilding.
