Pauline Plummer Portrait Paintings

CHRISTOFFEL LUBIENIECKI (1659-1729) Pair of portraits of a gentleman and a lady, both in silk kimono, before a country house (circa 1680) Indistinctly signed “C.......” on a box under the man’s left hand Oil on canvas, 79.5 x 67 cm each Both sitters are portrayed wearing a silk “Japanese” coat. During the second half of the seventeenth the Japanese silk coat, an adapted Japanese kimono, became a real vogue in the Dutch elite. The exclusive Dutch trade contacts with Japan can explain the popularity of the kimono-style silk coats in the Netherlands. Everybody who could afford one, dressed in such a fashionable and comfortable coat and, like the present sitters, some proud owners had themselves portrayed in a “Japanese” coat often together with an oriental carpet to underline their standing and international connections. These portraits are the work of the Polish-born portraitist Christoffel Lubieniecki (also known as Lubienitski, Lubinitski or Lubiniecki) Lubieniecki was first trained in Hamburg under Julian Stuhr and after 1675 in Amsterdam under Adriaen Backer and Gerard de Lairesse. He specialized in landscapes, generally of an Italianate character, and in portraits. The loving execution of these contented burghers, enjoying the garden vistas of their country house, places him alongside Amsterdam portraitists such as Constantijn Netscher and Michiel van Musscher...

Portrait of Barbara Palmer 1st Duchess of Cleveland 1640-1709, half-length wearing a red dress and portrayed within a cartouche. Circa 1680 Oil On...

Marianne Loir (Paris 1705 – Paris 1783) Presumed Portrait of Jean-Jacques-Blaise Baloin de Belvèse, Baron de Vennac (?-1781) Oil on oval canvas H. 54.5 cm; W. 46 cm Unsigned Grandda...

Portrait of Lady Mary Burke, later Wife of Edward Southwell, 2lst Baron, three-quarter length seated, wearing Red Coat and Fur Robes, a Landscape beyond Signed Oil on canvas 55 x ...

Oil on unlined canvas, stamped 26 x 21¼ inches; 66.5 x 54 cm Framed dimensions: 95.5 x 83.5 cm ‘Wood & Co 190 Brompton Road London SW’ Signed with monogram and dated ‘1878’, centr...

Nicolas de LARGILLIERRE (Paris 1656 - 1746) Portrait of Louis-Urbain Le Peletier, Marquis de Rosanbo, Master of Requests (1662-1730) Oil on canvas H. 75 cm; L. 60 cm Unsigned Proven...

René DUDOT (active in Rouen and Paris between 1640 and 1659) The Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist H. 73 cm; W. 57.5 cm Unsigned René Dudot was most active in ...

Oil paint, pastel and charcoal on paper Signed and dated by the artist lower left

Repose an original oil painting by Anastasiya Skryleva

Oil on linen

Oil paint on canvas Unique work Hand-signed by the artist Stéphane Fauchille, dream anthropologist “Would you, for a moment, like to become the Claude Lévi-Strauss of the aborigin...

A group portrait of the Southwell family on the terrace with a negro page and Macaw. Oil on canvas Signed and dated 1731 Canvas size 25 x 30 ¼ inches 63.5 x 77 cms Frame exterior 32 x 37 ¼ inches 81 x 94.5 cms This evocative family portrait offers a glimpse into the life of 18th Century English nobility. The Southwells are a noble family whose roots go back to the early 17th Century. In 1776 Edward Southwell III was granted the Barony of de Clifford (a title in abeyance at the time), and the line extends to today, with the 28th Baron de Clifford sitting in the House of Lords. Charles Phillips (1708-1747) was a leading portraitist of his time, having painted many noble and royal portraits. Two of his paintings are part of the Royal Collection Trust. In this portrait, signed and dated 1731, we see Edward Southwell Sr (1671-1730) and his family on the grounds of their Estate, Kings Weston House near Bristol. On the far left is Mrs. Helena Le Grand (Edward’s sister). Next to her is Mrs. Southwell (Edward’s second wife, the first having died in 1709). On the right is Edward Southwell Jr (1705-1755), Edward’s son by his first marriage and next to him a “Negro Page” (in the euphemistic words of an old label on the painting; more on him below.) Phillips has arranged the figures in an arc, anchoring the composition. The arc stretches from Mrs. Le Grand’s red dress on the left, through the colourful parrot, onward to the heads of Mr. and Mrs. Southwell, down again to the younger Southwell and finishing on the right with the enslaved boy. As Edward Sr. died in 1730, this must be a posthumous portrait, making it especially poignant. (Presumably Phillips used another portrait to capture his likeness.) One can imagine the late Edward’s family looking affectionately at the portrait, remembering the time spent with him on the grounds of Kings Weston House. Southwell stands between wife and son, eyes directed toward one, hand pointed toward the other, symbolically balancing the needs of both. Devoted husband and father? Perhaps. Slave-owner as well. English noble families of the 18th Century often had financial and practical connections with the slave trade. The Southwells themselves were granted a tract of land by the Crown in 1766, which Edward Southwell III (1738-1777) – the son of the younger Southwell in the portrait – developed with partners into a plantation worked by slave labour. This portrait shows us that slave ownership was not always a matter for distant colonies. This young boy, likely deprived of his freedom from birth (born to enslaved parents), was made to serve the Southwell family in their home. We see him here sitting half cross-legged, wearing a house servant’s uniform and a faint smile. He gaze is turned upward; at first we think is looking at his Master, then we realise he must be in fact enjoying the sight of the parrot eating from the hand of his Master’s sister. Phillips has placed him on the ground, beneath the rest of the family in pose as in station. Yet here he is in this portrait just the same, as if he were a member of the family. Was the family fond of him? Was he a playmate of the younger Southwell? Or was he simply there in the Garden that day to serve them their refreshments? The answers to these questions must remain unanswered, known only to the sitters frozen in time by Phillips’ paintbrush. Three centuries later we are fortunate to have this portrait as a snapshot of 18th Century England, both its nobility and its baseness. Charles Philips, the son of a portraitist, likely acquired his artistic skills from his father. He specialised primarily in painting small portraits and conversation pieces. George Vertue observed that in painting small figure portraits and conversation scenes, Philips gained significant recognition and patronage among fashionable circles, including members of the Royal Family. In 1732, he produced conversation works for the Duchess of Portland and the Duke of Somerset. During the 1730s, his conversation pieces became increasingly complex, featuring more numerous subjects engaged in a greater variety of activities. Following the precedent set by contemporaries such as Philippe Mercier and William Hogarth, both prominent painters of small-scale conversation pieces, Philips transitioned into the more lucrative field of portrait painting later in the decade. His career peaked in 1737 when he painted full-length portraits of the Prince and Princess of Wales. The Prince of Wales was renowned for his patronage of the arts, particularly towards immigrant artists including Jacopo Amigoni and Philippe Mercier, who were principal influences on Philips. Two of Philips' paintings in the Royal Collection depict fashionable London clubs not recorded elsewhere. The first, from 1732, shows Frederick...

Oil on canvas, Natia Sapanadze is a Georgian artist born in 1999 who lives & works in Tbilisi, Georgia. Natia's alternative profession is a philologist, besides she has started ...

Oil on canvas, Natia Sapanadze is a Georgian artist born in 1999 who lives & works in Tbilisi, Georgia. Natia's alternative profession is a philologist, besides she has started ...

Oil on canvas, Natia Sapanadze is a Georgian artist born in 1999 who lives & works in Tbilisi, Georgia. Natia's alternative profession is a philologist, besides she has started ...