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Style: Old Masters
Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Oil Painting Portrait of St. Peter
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
St. Peter
Italian, 18th century
oil on canvas, laid on panel
panel: 9.75 x 8 inches
Provenance: private collection, Paris
Condition: very good condition
For more any more informati...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Huge Antique Oil Painting Portrait Fernando Álvarez de Toledo 3rd Duke of Alba
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Spanish School, early 20th century
Portrait of Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, the 3rd Duke of Alba (1507-1582).
after the 16th century painting by Anthonis Mors
oil on panel, framed
f...
Category
Early 20th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Huge Antique Oil Painting Oval Portrait of Mary Magdalene Holding Ointment Jar
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of Mary Magdalene with an Ointment Jar
Spanish School, early 20th century, unsigned
after the earlier 16th century painting by Jan van Scorel
oil on panel, framed
framed: 4...
Category
Early 20th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Fine 17th Century Italian Old Master Oil Painting Portrait of the Madonna
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of the Madonna in Prayer
17th Century Italian School
oil on board, framed
framed: 6.75 x 6 inches
board: 5 x 4 inches
Provenance: private collection, England
Condition: ver...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Portrait of a Gentleman & Dog - Fine Georgian English Old Master Oil Painting
Located in Sevenoaks, GB
A beautiful late 18th or very early 19th century English oil on copper portrait of a gentleman with his hound.
Excellent quality Georgian period work which is unusually painted on c...
Category
1790s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Copper
Portrait of a Gentleman - British Old Master c1750 art oil painting
Located in Hagley, England
This superb British 18th century Old Master portrait oil painting is attributed to Thomas Hudson. Painted circa 1750 it is a three-quarter length standing portrait of a gentleman in ...
Category
1750s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$6,612 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait of a Spanish Noble Lady - 17th Century Old Master art oil painting
Located in Hagley, England
This stunning, large portrait oil painting is attributed to Spanish Old Master Claudio Coello who is considered the last great Spanish painter of the 17th century. It has formerly been the property of Lady Beatrice...
Category
1680s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil Crayon
$99,181 Sale Price
20% Off
Antique French Old Master Oil Painting Christ Healing the Sick in Jersusalem
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Christ Healing the Sick
French School, 19th century
oil on canvas, unframed
canvas: 15 x 20.5 inches
Provenance: private collection, Europe
Condition: some craquelure throughout, mo...
Category
19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$1,735 Sale Price
30% Off
Fine Large Oil Painting Portrait of the Lady with the Fan Diego Velazquez
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of the Lady with a Fan
English School, second half 20th century
after Diego Velazquez's (1599-1660) original painting
oil painting on canvas, unframed
canvas : 36 x 28 inche...
Category
Mid-20th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Madonna and Child - Italian 17th century religious Old Master art oil painting
Located in Hagley, England
This beautiful Italian religious Old Master oil painting is attributed to circle of Massimo Stanzione. Painted circa 1640, the composition is the Madonna holding baby Jesus as he sta...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$41,876 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait of Colonel Rupert Bridge in Armour with a Black Pageboy - Dutch 17thC
Located in Hagley, England
This large and impressive 17th century Dutch Old Master portrait oil painting with good provenance is by Nicolaes Maes. Painted circa 1680 it is a three-quarter length standing portr...
Category
1680s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
18th century French Old Master Portrait of a woman in oriental costume
Located in Aartselaar, BE
French 18th century old master portrait of a majestic lady dressed "à la Turque"
The sitter at the viewer with a kind and enigmatic smile and twinkling eyes. She looks elegant and kind, yet also has an intelligent and determined aura, reflecting the character of someone who is in charge of her own life and destiny.
De Silvestre paid great attention to her spectacular outfit, which is striking in its portrayal of the sumptuous fabrics and their decorative richness. She is wearing a luxurious royal blue robe à la...
Category
1740s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Huge Victorian English Old Master Oil Painting Madonna & Christ Child after Dyck
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Madonna and Christ Child
English School, 19th century
after the earlier painting by Sir Anthony van Dyck, unsigned
oil on canvas, framed in fine elaborate gilt frame.
Framed: 49...
Category
19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Madonna and Child 1800's English Oil on Canvas with Circular Composition
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Madonna and Child
English Old Master, c. 1800
oil on canvas, unframed (relined canvas)
Canvas: 14.5 x 12 inches
Provenance: private collection, UK
Condition: very good condition
De...
Category
Early 19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Fine Italian Old Master Oil Painting c. 1700's The Madonna Christ Child St. John
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Madonna, Christ Child and St. John
Italian Old Master, circa 1700's period
oil painting on canvas, unframed
Canvas: 28.5 x 24 inches
conditon: overall very good for its age, a fe...
Category
Early 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$4,352 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait of a senior naval officer, c. 1750s
Located in Henley-on-Thames, England
Thomas Hudson (Devon 1701 - London 1779)
Portrait of a senior naval officer, c. 1750s
Probably a captain or admiral; half-length, holding a telescope, with a warship beyond
Oil on canvas
91.3 x 71.1 cm.; (within frame) 114.3 x 93.8 cm.
(Unsigned)
Provenance:
Christie’s, London, 22 November 1985, lot 105 (as Thomas Hudson);
Private collection, United Kingdom;
Haynes Fine Art, Broadway, Worcestershire;
Where acquired, private collection, United States, 16 August 1988;
Neal Auction, New Orleans, 14 September 2025, lot 302 (as Attributed to Thomas Hudson);
Where acquired by Haveron Fine Art.
Literature:
Bridgeman Art Library, The Bridgeman Art Library (London: The Library, 1995), p. 89
Christie’s, London, Important English Pictures (London: Christie’s, 22 November 1985)
Archival:
Witt Library, Courtauld Institute of Art (no. 061487);
Heinz Archive and Library, National Portrait Gallery, 1725-50, Thomas Hudson: Men Authentic (1) (Box)
This attractive and quintessential half-length is exemplary of Hudson’s leading portrait practice, produced at the height of his decade-long dominance over the London market beginning in 1749. Typical of Hudson's 1750s output, the portrait was likely made after his five-week visit to Rome and Naples, and bares the stylistic merits of this continental excursion. Indeed, the trip seemed to fortify a gradual refinement of Hudson’s technique: namely the emphasis of directional brushstrokes, which sensitively follow the contours of the facial features. The resulting feathery quality is combined here with a striking chiaroscuro effect, which Hudson borrowed directly from Rembrandt. Amalgamating the rich colouring of the Rococo with a mannered Baroque posing, Hudson renders the senior naval officer with a characteristic presence.
Resting one hand assuredly at his hip, the finely worked telescope illustrates the officer’s seniority; the warship sailing on the horizon beyond provides further indication of his commanding rank. The telescope is held by a hand modelled with sculptural poise, and the typically Van Dyck manner (seen elsewhere, e.g. Princess Amelia Sophia Eleonore of Great Britain, YCBA B2001.2.246) further illustrates Hudson's studied grounding. Despite the apparent stylistic placement of the work, an earlier date is possible, since the officer wears civilian clothes and not the naval officer’s uniform first introduced in 1747 (which officers afterwards invariably chose to be shown in). The officer has previously been suggested as Edward Henry Sartorius, of the prominent naval Sartorius family; however, this identification is improbable on biographical and documentary grounds.
Hudson was regularly commissioned by leading naval officers, and produced highly satisfactory portraits praised for their great likeness and genteel swagger. He charged 24 guineas for a standard 50 x 40 inch half-length in the 1750s period, and the present work (somewhat smaller in size) would have cost not much less. Comparable works include those of Admirals of the Fleet George Anson, 1st Baron Anson, and Sir John Norris; Admiral Sir George Pocock; Admiral Sir Peter Warren; Vice-Admiral The Honourable John Byng; and Rear-Admiral Richard Tyrrell. The present portrait is particularly similar in composition to Hudson’s Portrait of a Flag Officer of The White Squadron, which similarly employs the narrative device of a telescope held at a dynamic angle across the composition, with a warship to the left side of the officer’s retracted arm.
Thomas Hudson (Devon 1701 - London 1799)
Thomas Hudson rose to become the leading British portraitist of the mid-18th century, albeit in close competition with his Scottish counterpart Allan Ramsay. Born in Devon, Hudson studied alongside George Knapton under Jonathan Richardson the Elder (marrying his daughter in 1725, expressly against Richardson’s wishes), and inherited a dignified formality jointly derived from Van Loo. His work is first recorded in 1728, and between 1730-40 he practised in Bath and the West Country, where in addition to portrait commissions, he was employed to retouch and reline old pictures. He returned permanently to London thereafter, and devised a series of stock poses to which he would return with variation throughout his career. Beginning in 1745 with the death of Richardson and the departure of Van Loo, Hudson became the city’s most successful portraitist, and embarked on ambitious defining works such as his Portrait of Theodore Jacobsen ‒ not drastically unlike the continental heights of Pompeo Batoni in conception. Profiting from his success, he relocated from Lincoln’s Inn Fields to a house in Great Queen Street previously inhabited by Van Loo, and one door down from Kneller’s old rooms. An exceptionally productive period began in 1749 which lasted until the late 1750s. Among this output were highly praised portraits of the Prince and Princess of Wales, commissions for most of the preeminent aristocrats, and superlative group portraits including Benn’s Club of Aldermen, and those of the Thistlethwayte, Marlborough and Radcliffe families.
Hudson relocated to King Street, Covent Garden, operating a prolific studio operation which resulted in some four hundred paintings ‒ of which at least eighty were engraved. A prodigious assembly of young pupils included Sir Joshua Reynolds (1740-3), Joseph Wright of Derby (1751-3, 1756), Richard Cosway, John Hamilton Mortimer, and the drapery painters Joseph and Alexander van Aken (also employed by Ramsay). As one later reviewer expressed: ‘Hudson, his art may well display to sight / Who gave Mankind a Reynolds and a Wright’ (Miles, ‘Introduction’). The ambitious young Reynolds made many drawings from classical statuary under Hudson’s instruction, and wrote home that, ‘While doing this I am the happiest creature Alive (sic.)’ (Sweetser, p.12). However, he was later dismissed from his pupilage some two years prematurely for refusing to carry a painting to Van Aken’s studio in the rain. It was at this point that Reynolds returned to Plymouth (Devonport), and produced some thirty portraits of the local gentry (including one example presently owned by Haveron Fine Art).
Hudson was one of a number of artists who congregated in Old Slaughter’s Coffee House, alongside Hogarth, Ramsay, Hayman, and Rysbrack. Together they supported Thomas Coram’s Foundling Hospital, of which they each belonged to the 600 governors (in whom Hudson met many of his future clients), and promoted the building as London’s first public space of artistic exhibition. He visited the Netherlands and France for five weeks in 1748 accompanied by St Martin’s Lane colleagues, and was arrested with Hogarth for making drawings of the Bastille fortifications. He afterwards stayed in Rome and Naples in 1752 with Roubiliac, meeting Reynolds twice on the return journey. He returned to England and bought a house at Cross Deep, Twickenham (upstream from Pope’s villa), and made an effective museum of the space. He lived there with his second wife, a wealthy widow named Mrs Fynes. Having been involved with early attempts to establish a royal academy of the arts, Hudson exhibited at the Society of Arts in 1761 and 1766, although he had effectively retired from painting by the latter date. His last painting was in 1767, and he died at Twickenham in January 1779 aged seventy-eight.
Hudson was also exceptional for the extensive collection of artworks which he amassed during his lifetime. The collection was thoroughly impressive in extent, and included outstanding Old Masters: Breughel, Canaletto, van Dyck, Hals, Holbein, Kneller, Lely, Michelangelo, Parmigianino, Poussin, Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Tintoretto, Titian, Vasari, and Velázquez. His earliest recorded purchase was in 1741, and he spent heavily at the sale of his father-in-law, even buying works jointly with Van Aken. Likewise, at the posthumous 1750 sale of Van Aken, Hudson spent £215 on the second day (nearly half that day’s sale total). As a pupil, Reynolds had been sent to bid for Hudson in Lord Oxford’s sale of 1742, and proudly recalled having been greeted with a handshake by Hudson’s friend Pope at another picture sale. Hudson also collected extensively from within his own generation, acquiring works by contemporaries including Gainsborough, Reynolds, Richardson, Rysbrack, Vanderbank, and his predecessor Van Loo. Following his death, the works were dispersed in two sales at Messrs. Langford, with the finer works sold at Christie’s in 1785 after the death of his second wife. However, his connoisseurship was not without flaw ‒ having outbid Benjamin Wilson for a Rembrandt drawing, Wilson etched and printed a new ‘Rembrandt’ plate...
Category
1750s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Large Antique Oil Painting The Mona Lisa after da Vinci's Famous Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Mona Lisa
after Leonardo da Vinci
French artist, 20th century
oil on canvas, unframed
canvas: 24 x 18 inches
provenance: private collection, Paris
condition: good and sound condi...
Category
20th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
$4,848 Sale Price
20% Off
King Charles 1st Antique Oil Painting Portrait of Famous British Monarch
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
King Charles I
British artist, early 20th century
signed with initials
oil on canvas, framed
framed: 36 x 29 inches
canvas: 32 x 26 inches
provenance: p...
Category
Early 1900s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
$1,542 Sale Price
20% Off
Large 18th Century English Oil Painting Portrait of Aristocratic Lady in Blue
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of a Noble Lady
English artist, mid 18th century
circle of Thomas Gainsborough (English 1727-1788)
oil on canvas, unframed
canvas: 30 x 25 inches
provenance: private collect...
Category
Mid-18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
$5,179 Sale Price
20% Off
Fine Antique Classical Nude Draped in Robes Dancing with Dog Gold Background
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: Italian School, 19th century
Title: Classical nude draped in robes with dancing dog. The work looks as though it might have been a ceiling...
Category
19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
$1,377 Sale Price
20% Off
Fine 17th Century English Old Master Oil Painting Portrait Aristocratic Lady
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of a Young English Aristocratic Lady
English, circa 1670's period, unsigned
oil on canvas laid on board, unframed
canvas: 30 x 25 inches
Provenance: private collection, UK
C...
Category
Mid-17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Fine 17th Century Italian Old Master Oil Painting Madonna with Christ Child
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Madonna & Christ Child
Italian, 17th century
oil on wood panel, unframed
board: 9.5 x 7.5 inches
provenance: private collection, Paris
condition: very good and sound condition fo...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Austrian school. Portrait of a Lady with Floral Shawl. Ca. 1825
Located in Firenze, IT
Austrian or Central European School.
Portrait of a Lady in White Dress with Floral Shawl and Long Chain with Pendant, ca. 1825-1835
Oil on canvas, relined
Size: 76 × 62 cm
Half-le...
Category
Early 19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$1,073 Sale Price
25% Off
Fine Italian Old Master Oil Painting Angel & Saints Appearing to Figures
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: Italian Old Master, 18th century
Title: Angel and Saints appearing to figures, one dressed in a white ruff collar.
Medium: oil on canvas...
Category
Early 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Fine 18th Century English Portrait of Aristocratic Gentleman Huge Oil Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of an Aristocratic English Gentleman
circle of Thomas Hudson (British (1701-1779)
oil on canvas, framed
framed: 53.5 x 45 inches
painting: 45 x 40 inches
provenance: private...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$3,306 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait of an artistic Gentleman, c. 1720s
Located in Henley-on-Thames, England
John Vanderbank (London 1694 - London 1739)
Portrait of an artistic Gentleman, c. 1720s
Three-quarter-length, wearing a turban
Oil on canvas
125.5 x 101.7 cm.; (within frame) 145.6...
Category
1720s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Fine 18th Century British Oil Painting Mother & Infant Child in Adoration
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Mother & Child
British artist, late 18th century
after the painting by Sir Anthony van Dyke
oil on canvas, unframed
canvas : 20 x 18 inches
provenance: private collection, Berkshire,...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
$2,744 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait of a Gentleman in a Landscape - British Old Master art oil painting
Located in Hagley, England
This superb British 18th century Old Master portrait oil painting is by William Williams of Norwich. It was painted circa 1780, after he had returned to England from in Philadelphia ...
Category
1780s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Angel Annunciation Paint 17th Century Oil on canvas Old master Tuscany school
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Seventeenth-century Tuscan painter
Angel of the Annunciation
Oil on canvas
52 x 74.5 cm Framed 94 x 71 cm
The work on offer, characterised by a refined sacredness, depicts...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$8,557 Sale Price
20% Off
18th Century Oil on Canvas Portrait, Major Alexander Brown in Military Uniform.
By Sir David Wilkie
Located in Cotignac, FR
18th Century Military portrait of a young officer in Napoleonic period military dress. The painting is not signed but the subject is Major Alexander Brown. The work is oil on canvas later mounted on board and presented in a fine 'Regence style' carved gilt frame. There are labels to the back referring to the subject, 'Major Brown of Trinity' and a framers trade label from Edinburgh.
A magnificent and imposing portrait of a young military officer in the prime of his life. His red uniform adorned with fine buttons, fringed epaulettes and high gilt collar. His ruddy complexion offset by his stylish hair, a quiff and swept forward to the sides as was the fashion at the time.
Sir David Wilkie RA (18 November 1785 – 1 June 1841) was a Scottish painter, especially known for his portraits, including formal royal ones, and scenes from his travels to Europe and the Middle East. He painted successfully in a wide variety of genres, including historical scenes. His main base was in London, but he died and was buried at sea, off Gibraltar, returning from his first trip to the Middle East. He was sometimes known as the "people's painter".
He was Principal Painter in Ordinary to King William IV and Queen Victoria. Apart from royal portraits, his best-known painting today is probably The Chelsea Pensioners Reading the Waterloo Dispatch of 1822 in Apsley House.
Sir David Wilkie was actually admitted in 1799 (despite only being 14) through the influence of the Earl of Leven...
Category
Late 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
Antique Spanish Old Master Oil on Wood Panel, Head Portrait of Christ
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: 18/19th Century Spanish School
Title :Head study of Christ
Medium: oil painting on wood panel, period gilt framed
panel : 6 x 5 inches
Provenance: private collect...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$2,424 Sale Price
20% Off
An equestrian portrait of Field Marshal Sir John Ligonier, 1st Earl of Ligonier
By David Morier
Located in Stoke, Hampshire
David Morier (c.1705–1770 London)
An equestrian portrait of Field Marshal Sir John Ligonier, 1st Earl of Ligonier (1680–1770)
Oil on canvas
Canvas size - 40 x 50 in
Framed size - 48 ...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Fine 17th Century Dutch Old Master Oil Painting Interior Scene Many Figures
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Alms for the Poor
by Richard Brakenburg (Flemish 1650-1702)
oil on canvas, unframed
Canvas: 25 x 30 inches
Provenance: private collection, France, extensively inscribed verso
Conditi...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Portrait of a lady in blue dress ”Countess of Peterborough”
Located in Stockholm, SE
This exquisite portrait, with its new attribution to Theodore Russel, is believed to depict Lady Penelope O'Brien, daughter of Barnabas O'Brien, the sixth Earl of Thomond, and wife of the Earl of Peterborough, whom she married in 1644. The painting thus belongs to a historically significant period, capturing the refined elegance of the time.
The portrait has a prestigious provenance from Elleholms Hofgård, a historic estate in Mörrums socken, Blekinge, Sweden. Elleholms Hofgård, whose two-story, timber-framed main building was constructed in 1730 and expanded in 1804, has changed ownership several times since the 17th century. The ancestors of the present owners acquired the estate in 1915, and from the 20th century until 2023, this painting was prominently displayed in the estate’s main building, making it an integral part of the estate’s history.
Theodore Russel, an English portrait artist born in 1614, studied under the renowned Sir Anthony van Dyck, whose influence can be seen in Russel’s meticulous style. Russel often painted on cabinet-sized panels, such as this one, which measures approximately 39 x 31 cm. This preference for panels is a notable characteristic that sets him apart from contemporary artists like Sir Peter Lely, who exclusively used canvas. The size of the panel is a key reason for the reattribution to Russel from Peter lely, as Lely never used panels for his works. This distinctive format, along with Russel’s characteristic style, strongly supports the new attribution.
Russel, the son of Nicasius Rousseel, a goldsmith and jeweler to James I and Charles I, refined his skills under the mentorship of his uncle, the famous portrait painter Cornelis Janssen. He also worked as an assistant and copyist for van Dyck, further honing his artistic style. This captivating portrait exemplifies Russel’s craftsmanship, reflecting the elegance of the period’s fashion and the artist's refined techniques.
oil on wood panel
with indistinct inscription Countess of Peter[...] upper left.
with inscription on the reverse: ”Countess of Peterborough. P. Lely 1670. S Beatty Picture Restorer [...] Warwick”.
unframed 39 x 31 cm = 15.35 x 12.2 inches
framed 52 x 41.5 cm = 20.47 x 16.34 inches
Condition:
The portrait has just been restored by a professional art conservator in Stockholm and is now in a very good condition. The colors are vivid, and the skin tones appear more natural than before. It is a very fine painting. The frame is newly made and included.
Provenance:
Elleholms Hofgård, Mörrums socken, Blekinge, Sweden **;
Stockholms Auktionsverk, Fine Art & Antiques Autumn...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
Rare Jacobean Portrait on Panel Lady Elizabeth Wheeler née Cole 1623 Historical
Located in London, GB
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...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
French School 18th century, Portrait of a gentleman, oil
Located in Paris, FR
French School 18th Century
Portrait of a gentleman holding his hat
Oil on paper transferred on wood panel
34 x 27 cm
Not signed which is normal for this type of artwork
In a beautifu...
Category
1760s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Portrait of a Lady in White Dress - British 19th century art oil painting
Located in Hagley, England
This simply superb British 19th century portrait oil painting is attributed to circle of John Constable. Painted circa 1820 it is a sumptuous half length portrait of a lady in a shor...
Category
1820s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$8,816 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait of a Gentleman in a Red Coat and Periwig, c.1715-1725; Godfrey Kneller
Located in London, GB
Portrait of a Gentleman in a Red Coat and Periwig, c.1715-1725
Studio of Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723)
This portrait of a gentleman, presented by Titan Fine Art, is a fine and wel...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Christ on the Cold Stone – After Jan Gossaert (Mabuse)
Located in Stockholm, SE
This striking devotional image, painted by a follower of Jan Gossaert, represents one of the most influential compositions of the Northern Renaissance: Christ on the Cold Stone, or C...
Category
16th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
Portrait of Mary Hooper née Davie, Blue Dress, Seated in a Parkland, Provenance
By Jonathan Richardson the Elder
Located in London, GB
Portrait of Mary Hooper (née Davie) in a Blue Dress & Seated in a Parkland c. 1715–1725
Jonathan Richardson the Elder (1667–1745)
This portrait, presented by Titan Fine Art, is of p...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
19th century English portrait of a White/grey hunter in a stable
Located in Woodbury, CT
English 19th century portrait of a White / Grey hunter in a stable.
Charles Towne was born in Wigan in 1763. He was trained as a coach painter, and by ...
Category
1820s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
c.1700 Gentleman Portrait with Wig and Blue Cloak, Thomas Murray Oil Painting
Located in London, GB
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...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Fine 17th Century Dutch Oil Painting on Wood Panel Horse & Figures Resting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Resting Place
Dutch School, mid 17th century
oil painting on board, unframed
canvas: 7 x 9 inches
provenance: private collection
condition: very good and sound condition
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$1,928 Sale Price
20% Off
Fine 17th Century Dutch Old Master Oil Painting Two Topers in Deep Conversation
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Topers in Deep Conversation
Dutch School, mid 17th entury
circle of David Teniers (Dutch 1610-1690)
oil on canvas
canvas: 8 x 7 inches
provenance: private collection, France
conditio...
Category
Mid-17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
$2,038 Sale Price
20% Off
Fine 1700's French/ Dutch Oil Painting on Copper Portrait Man Ruff Collar
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of a Gentleman wearing a Ruff Collar
Dutch/ French artist, 18th century
oil painting on copper, unframed
copper board : 6.75 x 5 inches
provenance: private collection, UK
co...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Copper
Animated biblical scene
Located in Genève, GE
Work on canvas
Work re-lined
Plaster and gilded wood frame
86 x 105 x 7 cm
Category
Late 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$4,054 Sale Price
20% Off
Madonna Child Conca 17/18th Century Paint Oil on copper Old master Roman school
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Sebastiano Conca (Gaeta 1680 – Naples 1764) circle
Madonna and Child
Oil on copper
26 x 20 cm In high-quality period frame 72 x 50 cm
The work depicts the Madonna lovingl...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$5,952 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait of Anne Evelyn - British 18thC Old master oil painting excellent prov.
Located in Hagley, England
This stunning British 18th century Old Master portrait oil painting, with exceptional provenance, is by noted artist George Romney. It was painted in 1788, commissioned by James Evelyn of Felbridge as it is of his younger daughter Anne, aged 20 years old. James was a Doctor of Law and Anne's mother was his second wife, Jane. Felbridge house, Anne's home, was in the village of Godstone in Surrey. This superb oil painting is a seated portrait of Anne, wearing a white dress with a green sash, her forearms exposed and her hands in her lap. Anne is blessed with the most wonderful long auburn curly hair and is visually stunning. Her body is partly turned away from the artist/viewer and she is slightly gazing down at us with confident, clear eyes. Anne is pictured in a landscape with a dramatic sky behind her. Romney's brushwork on her dress, hair and the background is superb. The delicate detailing of her facial features is also stunning. Sometimes Old Master portraits can be a little staid, but this one of Anne with her wild auburn hair and bold look is just magnificent. This is a fantastic example of George Romney's work and of an 18th century British Old Master with exceptional detailed provenance.
Name plate states: Anne, younger daughter of James Evelyn of Fellbridge Esq. 1788, aged 20. Romney.
Provenance. With Charles Cecil Cope Jenkinson, 3rd Earl of Liverpool (1784-1851)
With The Hon. Henry Berkeley Portman (1860-1923),
Later 3rd Viscount Portman; with Emma, Viscountess Portman (1862-1929)
By 1926; with her daughter Lady Moyra Dawson-Damer (1897-1962)
Thence by family descent.
Painted in 1788. There are various labels verso.
Mentioned in Lord Hawkesbury's Catalogues of Portraits at Compton Place and at Buxted Park, in Sussex, 1903, p.18, no. 3, at Buxted Park, as in the 'Dining Room, South Wall'.
Further Bibliography: Gower (R. S.) Romney, London, 1904, p. 175 Kidson (Alex) George Romney, A Complete Catalogue of his Paintings, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2015, I, p. 205, no. 422 (illus).Ward (Humphrey) and Roberts (William) Romney: A Biographical and Critical Essay, London: T Agnew & Sons, 1904, p. 51
Condition. Oil on canvas. Image size 30 inches by 24 inches and in good condition.
Frame. Housed in an ornate gilt frame with name plate, 37 inches by 31 inches and in good condition.
George Romney (1734-1802) was born in Dalton-on-Furness, Lancashire, on 15 December 1734, the third of the eleven children of John Romney and Anne Simpson. Leaving school at the age of eleven, he worked for eight years in his father's cabinetmaking workshop before being apprenticed to a local painter, Christopher Steele, with whom he served for two years, from 1755 to 1757, in Kendal, York, and Lancaster. He married a Kendal girl, Mary Abbot...
Category
1780s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$99,181 Sale Price
20% Off
Self-Portrait
Located in London, GB
Oil on canvas
30 x 25 ⅛ inches; 762 x 638 mm
Verso: after Sir Joshua Reynolds, a self-portrait
Not signed
Painted c. 1758
Collections:
Philip Gell (1775–1842), Hopton Hall, Derbyshire;
By inheritance at Hopton Hall to his daughter, Isabella, who married William Pole Thornhill, who renounced Hopton and its contents in favour of his kinsman, Henry Chandos-Pole-Gell (1829–1902);
By descent to his son, Brigadier General Harry Chandos-Pole-Gell (1872–1934), who sold Hopton Hall in 1918 and moved the family to Newnham Hall, Northamptonshire;
By descent to his son, Lt Colonel John Chandos-Pole (1909–1993), Newnham Hall;
Thence by descent until 2015, when acquired
By descent to 2015;
Lowell Libson & Jonny Yarker Ltd.
Literature:
Algernon Graves and Walter V. Cronin, A History of the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds P.R.A., London, 1901, IV, p. 1394.
David Manning...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Manner of Guido Reni (1575-1642) The Prophecy of Simeon Large Antique Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: Manner of Guido Reni (1575-1642) Italian
Title: The Prophecy of Simeon
Medium: oil painting on canvas, unframed
Painting: 21.5 ...
Category
Mid-18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$2,639 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait of Madonna at Prayer - Italian Old Master art religious oil painting
By Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato
Located in Hagley, England
This rather special Italian Old Master religious portrait oil painting is attributed to a follower of Giovanni Battista Salvi, or Sassoferrato as he is better known. Painted circa 17...
Category
1790s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$8,375 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait of Maria Vittoria Queen of Portugal - Italian Old Master oil painting
Located in Hagley, England
This lovely Italian Old Master portrait oil painting is by Domenico Maria Sani. Painted circa 1732 the sitter is of Maria Anna Vittoria (1718 - 1788), daughter of Philip V and Elisabetta Farnese, who in 1729 married Joseph prince of Brazil and king of Portugal...
Category
Mid-18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Annunciation Ferri Paint 17th Century Oil on canvas Old master Religious Rome
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Ciro Ferri (Rome, 1634 – Rome, 1689) Attributed to
Annunciation (probably a preparatory sketch)
Oil on canvas 61 x 41 cm - In frame 79 x 49 cm
The work, certainly commission...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$6,076 Sale Price
20% Off
The Penitent Magdalene - Italian Baroque Old Master art portrait oil painting
By Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (Il Guercino)
Located in Hagley, England
This stunning Italian Baroque Old Master portrait oil painting is attributed to the circle of Guercino, Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (1591 - 1666) and it is ascribed verso. The paint...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$13,224 Sale Price
20% Off
Perseus and Andromeda
By David Teniers the Younger
Located in Paris, Île-de-France
DAVID TENIERS THE YOUNGER (1610–1690)
Perseus and Andromeda
Oil on panel
42.5 × 26.7 cm (16³⁄₄ × 10¹⁄₂ in.)
Unsigned
Provenance
• Possibly Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Habsburg (16...
Category
1650s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel, Wood Panel
17th century portrait of the wine merchant Caspar Rommerskirchen - Old master
Located in Aartselaar, BE
17th-century German portrait of the wine merchant Caspar Roemerskirchen at the age of 26 in 1628, Franz Kessler (attr.)
This highly decorative portrait depicts the 26-year-old Caspa...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood
Portrait of Madam van Robais - French Old Master oil painting 18th century art
Located in Hagley, England
This fine French Old Master portrait oil painting on canvas dates to circa 1770 and is attributed to the circle of Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun. The sitter is Madam van Robais.
The van R...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$20,387 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait of an Architect at His Desk, Oil on Canvas, Signed, 1798
Located in Stockholm, SE
Portrait of an Architect at His Desk, 1798
Oil on canvas, relined. Signed “C A Lorentzen 1798.”
The composition depicts an architect seated at his desk, surrounded by drawings and pa...
Category
1790s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Thetis Hephaestus Blanchard Mythological Paint Oil on table 17th Century French
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Jacques Blanchard (Paris, 1600 – Paris, 1638) and workshop
Thetis in Hephaestus' forge (Hephaestus gives Thetis the weapons he forged for Achilles)
Oil on canvas applied to pan...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
$9,301 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait of a girl, possibly Dorothy Bigg (née Wither) (1661-1717), c. 1674
By Gerard Soest
Located in Henley-on-Thames, England
Gerard Soest (c. 1600-1681)
Portrait of a girl, possibly Dorothy Bigg (née Wither) (1661-1717), c. 1674
Half-length, wearing natural pearl and gemstone jewellery
Oil on canvas
In...
Category
1670s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
Old Masters portrait paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Old Masters portrait paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including (After) Giampietrino, Henri-Joseph Castaing, Charles Towne, and Jean Alexandre Rémy Couder. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Old Masters portrait paintings, so small editions measuring 4.53 inches across are also available. Prices for portrait paintings made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $695 and tops out at $339,912, while the average work sells for $4,791.





