Christopher Steele

English 18th Century Portrait Painting of Giles Moore

c.1758

Portrait of Anne, Duchess of Cumberland and Strathearn (1743-1808), three-quarter length, seated on a classical terrace in a white gown and headdress with yellow doeskin gloves. Circa 1795. Oil on canvas in a giltwood frame. Dimensions: 141 x 114cm (in frame) Provenance: Edmund de Rothschild (1916-2009), Exbury House, Hampshire, UK Sotheby's London, 4 September 1997, lot 35 Sotheby's London, 14 March 1990, lot 68 Old Hall Gallery Ltd, Iden, Rye, Sussex (according to label on reverse) Anne (née Luttrell; first married name Horton] Duchess of Cumberland and Strathearn (1743–1808), was born in Marylebone on 24 January 1743, the daughter of Simon Luttrell, Baron Irnham (1713–1787), and his wife, Judith Maria Lawes (d. 1798). Anne Luttrell's first husband was Christopher Horton (bap. 1741), the son of Christopher Horton and his wife, Frances, of Catton Hall, Derbyshire. They married on 4 August 1765, but Horton died on 5 August 1769. Anne then married Henry Frederick, Prince, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn, brother of George III on 2 October 1771, whom she had met at his Garter investiture ceremony at Windsor earlier that year. The Duke broke the news to George III on 2 November by presenting him with a letter announcing the marriage; the couple then departed for Calais. The marriage horrified George III, not only because of the Duchess's politically controversial family, but also because a marriage between a prince and a commoner was unequal in imperial law, barring any children from inheriting the electorate of Hanover. In Britain: Cumberland refused to disavow the marriage and in consequence was barred from the king's presence. His mother, who was by now terminally ill, also refused to see him and they remained unreconciled at her death. Cumberland's failure to seek the King's permission for his marriage led to the King's forcing the Royal Marriages Act through parliament. It stipulated that no descendant of George II, other than the descendants of princesses who married into foreign families, could marry without the sovereign's consent. Horace Walpole described the Duchess to Sir Horace Mann as 'Coquette beyond measure, artful as Cleopatra, and completely mistress of all her passions and projects' (Walpole, Corr., 23.345). It was probably her determination to be recognized as a princess that drove the couple forward, whereas the Duke was more relaxed about his social status. Excluded from the court of George III, the Cumberlands established a rival centre at Cumberland House in Pall Mall, which Cumberland acquired from the duke of Gloucester in 1772. They staged lavish entertainments, patronized musicians, had a succession of portraits painted, and travelled conspicuously in their state coach. Cumberland was still living on his original financial settlement and, beset by debts, the couple spent the period from summer 1773 to summer 1774 travelling in France and Italy. To the frustration of British diplomats attempting to execute George III's instructions that the Cumberlands should be allowed no precedence, the Duchess's claims to royal status were enhanced when she was received privately by Empress Maria Theresa at Vienna. On their return to Britain the Duke and Duchess renewed their attempt to provide a livelier alternative to the court of George III. In 1775 Cumberland became patron of a boat club, the Cumberland Fleet, giving the Duke and Duchess the opportunity to sail down the Thames in a barge flying the royal standard at the centre of a well-attended social occasion. The society...

The sitter, seated in a yellow silk gown trimmed with a pink bow playing the cello, is believed to be the artist Balthazar Denner's eldest daughter Catharina (1715-1744), after his marriage to Esther Winter in Hamburg in 1712. She is also recognisable in another portrait of the Denner family in the Hamburg Kunsthalle, painted circa 1740 by the artist's son, Jacob Denner (1722-1765). Oil on canvas in a period giltwood frame. Provenance: Private collection, Northern Germany Professor Helmut Borsch-Supan, Berlin, confirmed the authenticity of the painting after examining it in 2013. The painting will also be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonnée of the artist, by Ute Mannhardt. Balthasar Denner...

Portrait of a young girl, full-length, wearing a blue silk gown, standing on a terrace beside a classical urn holding a branch with blossom. Attributed to John Riley...

Portrait of a lady, seated on an ornamental garden terrace, wearing a russet coloured dress adorned with pearls and jewels, by Caspar Netscher, c.1680....

A portrait of a lady three-quarter length, seated in an interior, wearing a red silk gown draped in a pink silk sash with an exotic bird perched on her hand and one arm resting on a stone plinth, her young daughter wearing a green silk gown standing at her side. Oil on canvas, housed in a period 'Lely' giltwood frame. This double portrait was painted at the height of Dahl's career in circa 1715 when Dahl had become firmly established as one of the leading portrait painters in Britain. Although the identities of the sitters are currently unknown, it is a sensitive depiction of a close and affectionate bond between a mother and daughter, with the young girl's hand resting affectionately on her mothers lap. The tamed exotic bird adds a charming decorative element which also serves to convey the high social status of the lady, given only the very wealthy would be able to own such a rare and expensive pet and the lively colouring of the bird's feathers is reflected in the colours of the sitters' silk gowns. Provenance: Private collection, London Michael Dahl (Stockholm 1659-1743 London) was born in Stockholm in Sweden and studied under Martin Hannibal (d 1741) and later with David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl. In 1682 he travelled to London, where he became acquainted with Godfrey Kneller and Henry Tilson, and in 1685 he left for Europe with Tilson, working briefly in Paris before continuing to Venice and Rome, where they stayed for about two years. In Rome Dahl converted to Roman Catholicism and gravitated towards the circle of Christina, former Queen of Sweden, who sat for him (Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincs). He returned to England with Tilson via Frankfurt and arrived in London in 1689, staying in England for the remainder of his career. During Dahl's absence, Kneller had consolidated his supremacy in London as the most fashionable portrait painter, but Dahl rapidly became Kneller’s closest competitor. His patrons probably had roots in the Swedish diplomatic circles, but it expanded as a result of his ability and his agreeable personality. His prices were lower than those of Kneller and he favoured softer, more diffused, colour tones and could respond to his sitters with sincerity and humanity. Politically, Kneller supported the ascendant Whigs while Dahl was a Tory, but they frequently painted the same sitters from both parties, and in spite of fundamental differences in technique and temperament, their work was sometimes similar in appearance. Dahl was prolific but rarely signed his work, and comparatively few of his portraits were engraved in mezzotint, the method used by Kneller to widen his reputation. By 1690 he had painted the aged Duke of Schomberg (engraved by William Faithorne) and Prince George of Denmark (London, Kensington Palace). He was ignored by William III but received commissions from Princess Anne, including one for a portrait of herself (Oakly Park, Ludlow, Salop). He also painted the future Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, and his informal portrait of the Duchess (Althorp House, Northants), formerly attributed to Kneller, is perhaps the most intimate of all images of her. During the 1690s he secured the patronage of Charles Seymour, the ‘Proud’ 6th Duke of Somerset, who ordered a series of seven full-length portraits of notable contemporary beauties from Dahl (1690s; Petworth House, W. Sussex, NT). This was originally a scheme similar to Kneller’s more famous ‘Hampton Court Beauties’, but the portraits were subsequently reduced to three-quarter-length formats. The features of the sitters are not individualized, but they possess a decorative, languorous glamour that recalls Lely rather than Kneller. Somerset gave Dahl further employment over the next 25 years. In 1698, following the death of Klöcker Ehrenstrahl, Dahl was offered the post of court painter at Stockholm, which he apparently refused, preferring to remain in London at his studio in Leicester Fields, near the Swedish legation. In about 1700 he was joined by a young compatriot, Hans Hysing, who worked with him for many years. Dahl seems not to have married until after 1708, He had a son Michael (d. 1741), also a painter, of whose work nothing is known, and two daughters. After the accession of Queen Anne in 1701, she and Prince George sat for a number of official portraits. His royal patronage ceased with Queen Anne’s death, and when Dahl refused to paint the infant Duke of Cumberland in 1722. He was suspected of Jacobite sympathies, and relations had cooled between him and the Swedish legation. However, his practice continued to prosper, and he acquired another important patron in Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford, who shared his political views and whose circle included the architect James Gibbs and the poets Matthew Prior and Alexander Pope, all of whom Dahl painted. Oxford commissioned several portraits of himself. In the earliest (1719; Welbeck Abbey...

Portrait of Master George O'Connor of Castleknock, (1778-1842) wearing a white shirt trimmed with lace cuffs and collar, a red jacket with gold buttons, buff breeches, and black shoes with silver...

Portrait of a Gentleman depicted three-quarter-length, in a white waistcoat and green coat, a book in his left hand, with a dog (Spaniel?), in a library/ study interior circle of Ralph Earl...

This superb late 18th century portrait oil painting is attributed to noted Scottish Old Master artist Alexander Nasmyth. Painted circa 1780 the sitter is a young woman, Sarah Wagstaf...

Courtiers Party in the Park in 18th Century In the Taste of Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743) Oil on canvas Frame gilded with leaves Dim canvas : 73 X 59 cm Dim frame : 100 X 87 cm

CASTAING Henri Joseph (1860-1918) Young girl at the source Oil on canvas signed low left Frame gilded with gold leaves Dim canvas : 100 X 66 cm Dim frame : 121 X 86 cm CASTAING Henr...

COUDER Alexandre Jean Rémy (1808-1879) Reading on the sofa Oil on canvas signed low left Old original frame gilded with leaves Dim canvas : 47 X 39 cm Di...

Painting Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, this is not a print or other type of copy. Signed on the front side and accompanied by a Certificate of Auth...