17th Century More Art

Portrait of a Lady, possibly Elizabeth Percy, Countess of Essex (1636–1718) c.1660-1665 Studio of Sir Peter Lely (1618–1680) This portrait, presented by Titan Fine Art, is a particu...

In this captivating mid 18th century portrait, presented by Titan Fine Art, a young English lady is presented in a luminous white satin gown trimmed with intricate lace and blue ribb...

A marvellous and extremely rare frame crafted using the papier-mâché technique. It features beautiful leaf-inspired ornamental motifs that make this mirror frame a small work of art....

Portrait of a Gentleman in Armour and Azure Cloak with Diamond Brooch c.1700 Attributed to Joseph Vivienne (1657-1735) The sitter in this superb portrait, offered by Titan Fine Art...

Portrait of Lady Diana Bruce in a Blue Dress with Cut Sleeves c.1660-1670 Circle of Sir Peter Lely (1616-1680) Presented by Titan Fine Art is a captivating portrait of the noble Lad...

Etching and drypoint on laid paper, 1651. New Hollstein's third, and final, state. Full sheet size 5.38 x6.5 inches. Frame size 14.25 x 16.75 inches. Catalogue raisonné references...

An exceptionally beautiful antique French wood carving, made in the 17th century. It depicts Madonna standing with open offering arms .The...

Portrait of Prince George of Denmark, Duke of Cumberland (1653–1708) c.1690–1695 Studio of Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723) Few portraits embody the visual authority and dynastic sy...

This handsome and unusually intimate image of King Charles I brings one of Sir Anthony van Dyck’s most commanding royal inventions into a scale ideally suited to private display. Aga...

This exquisite late seventeenth-century portrait is a beautifully preserved example of the small-scale courtly cabinet likeness: intimate in format, jewel-like in finish, and unusual...

Portrait of a Gentleman with Periwig and Blue Cloak c.1695-1710 Attributed to Thomas Murray (1663–1734) This accomplished oil-on-canvas portrait, presented by Titan Fine Art, was al...

A fine European portrait of a priest, oil on canvas, probably dating to the 17th or 18th century, unsigned, with original stretcher, minor surface losses and damage, craquelure, edge...

Portrait of Sir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet, and Mary, Lady Wentworth née Lowther c.1695–1705 Attributed to Michael Dahl (c.1659–1743) and Attributed to Thomas Murray (1663–1735) T...

Portrait of a Lady, in a Black Dress with Red Satin Sleeves and Pearls English School c.1660–1680 Circle of Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680) This striking portrait is a compelling exampl...

The impressive life-size statue of St. Anthony (Lisbon, 1195 – Padua, 1231) used to be probably in a church or monastery of the mendicant order of the Franciscans. You can immediately recognize a Franciscan monk by his brown habit, brown hooded cloak...

Portrait of a Gentleman in Blue Coat Standing by Curtain c.1695 Attributed to Constantyn Netscher (c.1668-c.1723), not signed The gentleman in this portrait has been depicted standi...

Flowers in A Basket by Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer. A Still Life of flowers in a basket including jasmine, honeysuckle, dahlias, parrot tulips, delphiniums and white carnations.

A Rare Jacobean Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Wheeler (née Cole), 1623 Attributed to Cornelius Johnson (1593–1661) This remarkably rare early oil on panel, presented by Titan Fine Art, has emerged as far more than an anonymous “Portrait of a Lady.” Preserved in outstanding condition—its surface retaining exceptional clarity in the lace and textiles—it has only recently been reunited with the identity of its sitter: Elizabeth Cole (1607–1670), later Lady Elizabeth Wheeler, a Westminster gentlewoman whose later life brought her into intimate royal service as laundress for His Majesty’s person. That combination—high quality, uncommon survival, a newly identified sitter, and a life that intersects directly with the last acts of Charles I—places this portrait in a category of genuine rarity. It is not simply a beautiful Jacobean likeness; it is a rediscovered historical document - legible and compelling. The sitter is presented half-length against a dark ground, enclosed within a painted sculpted oval surround that functions like an architectural frame. This device, fashionable in the 1620s, concentrates the viewer’s attention and heightens the sense of social presentation: the sitter appears both physically and symbolically “set apart,” as if viewed through a refined aperture. The portrait’s immediate power, however, lies in the costume—an ensemble of striking modernity for c. 1623 and rendered with a precision that survives with remarkable crispness. She wears a deep green gown—a fitted overgown with open sleeves—over a finely embroidered linen jacket (a stiffened bodice/waistcoat garment). The sleeves form pronounced “wings” at the shoulder, a structurally assertive fashion detail of the early 1620s that enlarges the silhouette and signals sophistication. Beneath the green overlayer, the white linen jacket is richly ornamented in gilt embroidery. The goldwork is arranged as scrolling foliate forms—looping, curling tendrils punctuated by seed-like stippling—organised into balanced compartments across the bodice and sleeves. The motifs read as stylised botanical forms with rounded fruit-like terminals and leaf elements: not literal naturalism, but controlled abundance. The technique is described with extraordinary intelligence, mimicking couched metallic thread through patterned, “stitched” marks, while tiny dots and short dashes create a lively tactile shimmer. This embroidered jacket sits above a newly fashionable high-waisted, sheer apron or overskirt. The translucent fabric falls in soft vertical folds and is articulated with narrow lace-edged bands, giving the skirt a crisp rhythm of alternating sheer and patterned strips. At the neck, a fine ruff frames the face: a disciplined structure of pleated linen finished with delicate lace. Draped diagonally across the torso are long gold chains, painted to suggest weight and metallic gleam; they function both as ornament and as a further signifier of status. The cumulative effect is controlled luxury: she is not overloaded with jewels, but clothed in textiles whose cost and craftsmanship speak unmistakably. The recent sitter’s identification rests on heraldic and genealogical analysis: the arms shown on the painting correspond to those recorded for several families in armorial sources, but when the lines of descent are tested against survival and chronology, the viable bearer by 1623 resolves to Cole, and—crucially—to the London branch. That resolution matters because it anchors the portrait to a very specific social world: London/Westminster civic gentry and Crown administration, the milieu in which portraiture served as both self-fashioning and social instrument. The recent identification of the sitter (the London Cole branch of the family) is not merely genealogical; it has direct implications for authorship. A London-based mercantile or civic-gentry family would have ready access to leading immigrant artists, familiarity with heraldic display conventions, and the means to commission oil on panel, still standard among Netherlandish-trained painters. In that context, the portrait’s age inscription and date become especially revealing. The painting states the sitter to be nineteen years of age. Yet Elizabeth Cole’s birth in 1607 suggests she would be younger if the portrait is dated as early as 1623. The key insight is that the “incorrect” age is best understood not as a mistake but as a deliberate social adjustment, a performative statement rather than a documentary one. The most persuasive explanation is strategic. Portraits of high-status unmarried women were frequently made in connection with marriage negotiations. In the early 1620s, Elizabeth’s future husband, William Wheeler, was resident abroad at Middelburg in Zeeland in the Dutch Republic. If a portrait was intended to support or facilitate a match with an educated, ambitious man—“a man of learning and letters,” —then presenting a seventeen-year-old as nineteen would subtly reposition her as more mature and more nearly a peer in age, Wheeler being around twenty-two. The portrait thus becomes an instrument of alliance, not merely a likeness: an image designed to persuade, reassure, and elevate. This reading aligns perfectly with the period’s wider conditions. The early 1620s in England were charged with anxiety and expectation: James I’s later reign was marked by court faction, diplomatic tension, and the pressures of European conflict. The so-called “art market” was inseparable from these dynamics. Portraiture flourished because it served multiple functions: it fixed lineage, advertised alliance, signalled readiness for marriage, and projected the stability of elite households in an uncertain world. For Westminster families whose power came through office, portraiture was also a declaration of belonging—proof that administrative elites possessed the cultural polish traditionally associated with older aristocratic rank. Elizabeth’s later life vindicates the portrait’s impression of steadiness. Although no record survives of her marriage ceremony to William Wheeler, wills suggest she had married him by the mid-1630s, and there are strong grounds—consistent with the portrait’s implications—for a union already in place by the early 1630s, possibly earlier. Wheeler himself rose rapidly. By 1639 he held a manor at Westbury Leigh in Wiltshire and sought letters of denization due to overseas birth, enabling him to stand as Member of Parliament for Westbury. He leased the principal manor of Westbury the following year, coinciding with his election. In government service he became Remembrancer of the Exchequer and held office across regime change, a testament to administrative skill and political pragmatism. It is Elizabeth, however, who makes this portrait exceptional. She became laundress for His Majesty’s person, responsible for the washing and oversight of the King’s personal linen—an office that, despite its domestic description, required unusual trust, discretion, and access. Her role becomes visible in 1643 when she was granted a warrant signed by the Speaker of the House of Commons to follow the King to Oxford with her servant after the outbreak of the Civil War. She continued to serve during the King’s captivity after 1646, and at Carisbrooke Castle in 1647 she and her maid were implicated in smuggling secret correspondence to and from Charles I, in service of escape plans. After the King’s failed attempt to escape in March 1648, she was removed—yet the King’s trust persisted: he was permitted to send her remaining jewels in an ivory casket...

Preparation for Carnival: a three day festival of insatiable eating, drinking and carousing that preceded the forty days of Lent, a period of penitence when the pious drank only wate...

Decorated with a cartouche on which the family coat of arms was probably engraved, this interesting small bronze object is a "cheer mortar" (also called a "mascolo" or "mastio" of ch...

Saint Erasmus or Saint Elmo (Antioch, ca. 240 – Formia, 303) was an Italian bishop and patron saint of the sailors. His attribute was the capstan, a winch on which the anchor chains were rolled up. He died as a martyr for his faith, and his bones were transferred to Gaeta in the 9th century, where they are kept in the cathedral to this day. The electric phenomenon of Saint Elmus fire is named after Saint Erasmus and the 16th C humanist Desiderius Erasmus. Little is known with certainty about Saint Erasmus' life. However, many legends may have been passed on orally until - no older writings are known with certainty. His birthplace was in present-day Syria. However, the persecution of Christians under Emperor Diocletian forced him to flee to Mount Lebanon...

A beautifully detailed late 17th or early 18th century Dutch or Flemish landscape with cows grazing in the water, goats, dogs, and other animals near the water’s edge, under the watchful eye of the herdsmen, on a backdrop of rolling hills and trees. Oil on wood panel, unsigned, and housed in a Rudolph...

Pierre Berchet, Drawing of Putti playing in a landscape, Painter of decorative history subjects; trained under La Fosse; worked in France and during the 1690s...

Copper-plate engraving, hand-colored, 1608 - c.1630 and published by Joannes Jansonius, Amsterdam. Image size 15.75 x 21.19 inches (40 x 53.9 cm). A classic example of a world ma...

Italian 17th Century Antique Gilt Frame Frame Size: Width: 28.50″ X Height: 39.25″ Thickness: 4″ Picture Size: Width: 22.25″ X Height: 33.25″ B...

The Peruvian Chancay (pre-Columbian) Mummy Bundle mask, from around 1600 is made of painted wood, textiles, and human hair. According to the Walters Art Museum: Andean cultures are ...

Antique carving of a saint or martyr. 17th century Flemish hardwood carving. Wonderful wear and rich color.

Complete title: Nova Iconologia di Cesare Ripa Perugino Cavalier de SS. Maurition & Lazzaro Nella quale si descrivono diverse imagini di Virtu, Vitij, Affetti, Passioni humane, Arti,...

Complete title: La Perspective Pratique, necessaire a tous peintres, graveurs, sculpteurs, architectes, orfeures, brodeurs, tapissiers & autres fe fervans du Deffein, par un Parisien...

Battista Platina Cremonese, Historia della vita dei sommi pontefici dal Salvator Nostro sino a Clemente VIII, Venice, Isabetta di Bernardo Bafa, 1600. Vol. in 8º, pp. 539, cm 24.5 x...

Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso, Venice, Felice Valgrisi, 1603. Vol. in 8°, pp. 654 with index of tables, cm 27 x 4.5 x 20, in Italian Complete Tit...

Melanie Sherman Hand-decorated Tea Bowl / Yunomi (Gold Luster, Rich, Floral, Fine China, Precious) Porcelain, 24K German Gold Luster, Glaze, Underglaze, China Paints, Vintage Transfe...

I am modeling the internal boundaries of my mind. My inside world, I know what it looks like only by touching it with feelings. I guess that I have a big protrusion in the front, ...

Etching and drypoint, circa 1630s. Cream laid paper. Narrow margins.

Thai Bronze Head of Buddha (Original) 17th c.

Two putti with symbols of war and victory (cannons, cannonballs, armour, anchor, lion's head, laurel branch/ olive branch, flag, staff with helmet) in pediment triangle. Probably a design for a painting or architecture Pen-and-ink drawing in black on brownish paper, black wash Plain gold moulding with UV glass Allegory of Victory, 18th Century, Old Master Drawing, By De Wit, Figurative Jacob de Wit...

Jan van der Heyden (1637 Gorinchem - 1712 Amsterdam), attributed. Old Master Drawing, Westerkerk Keizersgracht in Amsterdam, 17th century, Dutch Westerkerk and Keizersgracht in Amsterdam Backside: later drawn backside with village church of the 18th century Chalk and pen on paper 23,5 x 18,5 cm Preliminary drawing for a painting from the creative period c. 1667 - 1670. This painting has been published a few years ago by Peter C. Sutton in the catalogue raisonné of the artist. Van der Heyden was initially a pupil of a glass painter, but later turned exclusively to architectural painting and went to Amsterdam, where he painted views of churches, castles, palaces, public squares, streets, canals, etc., most of which are richly decorated with staffage. In addition, van der Heyden was also active as an inventor, for example, he developed a street lighting system for Amsterdam by means of oil street lamps, which was in operation from 1669 to 1840. After a stay in London, he painted the London fire of 1666, which he either witnessed himself or had seen the consequences of. Certainly influenced by this, he did much to further the technical and organisational development of the fire brigade from 1669 onwards. His greatest invention was probably the fire hose, which enabled significant improvements in fire-fighting technology and tactics. He also improved the hand-operated fire engines of the time by making them smaller, more mobile and more powerful, and he developed the series connection of several pumps to increase the pressure in order to achieve a greater range for the water jet. In 1690, together with his son, he was the author and illustrator of the Brandspuiten-boek, the first manual for fire fighting. Johann Lingelbach, Adriaen van de Velde and Eglon van der Neer...

This drawing shows several studies of a donkey with a carriage. Its style is close to Flemish 17th century artists. On the passepartout one reads "Mathias Scheyer/ Jacob Weyer", both...

This striking 17th-century Italian gilt frame embodies the expressive craftsmanship of the Baroque era. Its luminous gold surface is softened by a time-worn patina that speaks to cen...

Japanese Fukusa Silk embroidery and gold thread

Sculptural pair of Danish-designed stools, designed by 1960s designer Mogens Lassen. The stools have a beautiful sculptural and iconic line. Its very fluid and harmonious lines denot...

Old Master Drawing, Flemish School, Portrait or Sketch of a standing young boy. Condition : see photos The drawing is on paper.