Portrait of Colonel Richard Lister (1628-1704) Wearing Armour and Holding a Baton C.1690; Studio of Sir Godfrey Kneller Bt. (1646-1723), Oil on Canvas

This exquisite work formed part of the collection of the Gregory family, descendants of the sitter, at their immensely impressive home Harlaxton Manor, Grantham. Our portrait, and the contents of the manor, were sold in 1937 following the death of Thomas Sherwin Pearson-Gregory, the last of the family to reside at the manor.

The sitter is Colonel Richard Lister of Thorpe Arnold (1628-1704). Depicted standing in a romantic landscape wearing suit of armour, a full-bottomed wig, he is shown with such symbols of power and office - the baton of command is a symbol of military authority, for the sitter was Colonel of the Regiment of Foot in the Trained Bands of Leicestershire. The sumptuous flowing red sash fringed with gold and the ensuing battle in the background imbues the portrait with a sense of movement and drama. His heroic visage suitably reflects his wealth and status and the martial, almost imperial, image of the sitter is an interesting characterisation and was popular at the time. The portrait is datable to circa 1690 when the full bottomed wig with its loose curls was fashionable.

The Lyster family has origins of great antiquity in the Yorkshire and neighbouring counties as far back as 1308 when Richard Litster was a Burgess Newcastle-on-Tyne. From there several distinct lines emerged.

Colonel Richard was born on 4th July 1624 at Ambrosden, Oxon. He was the son of Sir Martin Lister (1602/3-1670) (whose uncle, Sir Matthew, was physician to Queen Anne of Denmark) and his first wife, Mary Wenman (buried 1630/1), and half-brother of Martin Lister (c.1638-1712) who was one of the most important doctors and virtuosi of his generation. He married Eleanor Meridith (born 1627) and the couple had at least five children: Richard (born 1657), Mary (1663-1664), Dorothy (1660-1710), Penelope (born 1651/2), William (born 1666), and Martin (1650-1665). He was Justice of the Peace several times between 1680 and 1690 and Deputy Lieutenant several times between 1680 and 1701). Our sitter’s half-sister, Susannah Lister (born c.1642), married George Gregory (died 1746) of Harlaxton Manor, and it is via this line that our portrait descended until it was sold, along with another Lister portrait (dated 2626, by Cornelius Jonson), after the death of the last Gregory to live at the manor in 1937.

The artist was one of the best and most famous, Sir Godfrey Kneller, who completed portraits of all the key figures of the time and was court painter to four sovereigns. He played a key role in the development of British art and influenced countless artists over generations. He captured the aristocratic confidence that many of his sitters would have wished to display and used the aristocratic gaze and excess of drapery to create portraits that personified grandeur and extravagance.

Kneller, who was German-born and Dutch trained, studied under Ferdinand Bol, and perhaps Rembrandt himself in the 1660s. He settled in England in 1676 and was soon employed at Court. He became the most successful portraitist of the generation following Lely and enjoyed the office of Principal Painter in 1688 until his death. His major works include a series of ten reigning European monarchs, including King Louis XIV of France; over 40 “Kit-cat portraits” of members of the Kit-Cat Club; and ten “beauties” of the court of William III. He was also head of the Kneller Academy of Painting and Drawing 1711-1716 in Great Queen Street, London.

Presented in a beautiful period gilded frame.

Provenance:

By descent from the sitter to Thomas Sherwin Pearson-Gregory, Harlaxton Manor, Grantham;

His sale Christies London 18th June 1937, Lot. 29 (as Kneller, Portrait of a Gentleman, in armour with a red sash)

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