Charles Jervas

English 18th century portrait of Henrietta Pelham-Holles, Duchess of Newcastle.

c 1720

This large double portrait depicts the sisters Lady Catherine and Lady Jane Brydges, the daughters of John Brydges, the Marquess of Carnarvon (1703-1727). They are seated on a stone...

The painting depicts James (Jacques) Dalbiac, his wife Louise (ne de la Porte) and their five children, James, Charles, Louise, Marianne and Martha in the ornamental gardens of a grand country estate. The extensive gardens extend into the distance with gardeners working in the background and figures strolling through the avenues of trees. A peacock and peahen can be seen on the wall to the left and a potted orange tree to the right. Louise Dalbiac holds an orange taken from the orange tree, aluding to the family's faith and their loyalty to the protestant King William of Orange and their adopted country. The Dalbiacs were wealthy London silk and velvet merchants of French Huguenot origin who had fled France at the end of the 17th century to escape persecution for their protestant faith. England offered safe refuge and their skills and industriousness allowed them to establish one of the most successful businesses in London's Spitalfields which became a new centre of the silk trade, effectively leading to the collapse of the once dominant French silk industry. Both sons, James and Charles followed their father and Uncle into the family business, successfully growing the family's fortune and each going on to own their own country estates. A conversation piece is a genre of painting used to describe group portraits of families and friends, often depicted with their servants and family pets and set within an elegantly furnished interior or the garden of a grand country house. They were a celebration of the intimacy of family relations as well as a sign of status, property and the power of succession. The informality of conversation pieces grew popular in 18th century England, allowing the sitters to present themselves in a more relaxed pose, perhaps engaged in intellectual conversation or showing their talents or interests. In this present portrait, the Dalbiacs are shown richly dressed and and at leisure in a grand country house setting, conveying their success and cultural and social aspirations. Charles Philips (c.1703–1747) was an English artist known for painting a number of portraits and conversation pieces for noble and Royal patrons in the mid-eighteenth century. He was the son of portrait painter Richard Philips...

Miss Ada Gossett, circa 1673, half-length in a landscape at dusk, wearing an amber silk gown adorned with a gold trimmed gauze shawl and fine jewels, wearing a pearl necklace, her fa...

An 18th century painting of a family group (otherwise known as a ‘conversation piece’) gathered around a table, an open door to the garden beyond. The father seated, with his son standing by his side, the mother seated, playing with a child on her lap, with another lady, possibly a maid standing behind, a Culpeper microscope...

Evangelista Schiano (attr.) (active in the 18th century) Title: Saint Gennaro Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 102 x 74 cm - with frame 126.5 x 100 cm 19th century car...

Extremely decorative and large oil painting from the 17th century. Restored in places.   Signed and dated Simon Peter Tileman 1658 fecit 'lower right Dimensions without frame. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Simon Peter Tilemann (1601, Lemgo – 1668, Vienna), was a German Baroque painter who was active Bremen, Kassel and Italy. According to Houbraken he first learned to paint flowers and he had a daughter who could paint flowers in watercolors. He was a good landscape painter who spent many years in Italy, but later switched to portrait painting and who painted the portrait of Ferdinand...

Giovan Battista Moroni (circle of) (Albino, Italy, 1520 – 1580 ca.) Title: Portrait of a woman Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 46 x 40 cm - with frame 55.5 x 50.5 cm Antique shaped and gilded wooden cassetta frame. Publications: unpublished. The present portrait shows an adult woman, no longer young, as can be seen from her slightly blistered cheeks, but not elderly either. The suspicious and veiledly inquisitive gaze is well matched by the elegance of her extremely fashionable black clothes...

Nicolò Zafuri (circle of) (documented in Candia between 1487 and 1500, died before 10 July 1501) Title: Madonna with Child Medium: Oil on panel Dimensions: without frame 49 x 40 cm ...