Titan Fine Art has dated this piece to the 17th Century.
The artist makes no attempt to obey the rules of Baroque and instead sensitively depicts in complete honesty his sitter against a plain wall, and without distracting backdrops and flowing draperies – this work is very redolent of the sumptuous half-length female portraits that Cornelius Johnson painted for members of the court and gentry during the 1630s.
The sitter is Katherine St Aubyn, born Katherine Godolphin (1620-1662). The Godolphin’s are an ancient Cornish family (originally “Godolghan” which in Cornish means “White Eagle”) who were established at their family seat, Godolphin Manor, since the time of the Norman Conquest in the year 1,000. The Manor descended from the first known lord, John de Godolphin, to Tudors times, from father to son, barring once in the 14th century.
Katherine was born in September 1620 and was the youngest daughter of Francis Godolphin (1589-1652), of Treveneage in Cornwall, and his wife Ann Carew. She married into another ancient family - the St. Aubyn’s, whose ancestors can be traced back in Devonshire to the 14th century. Her husband John St Aubyn (c.1613–1684) of Clowance and St Michael’s Mount, was a member of parliament and during the English Civil war he served as a colonel in the parliamentary army. The couple had six sons and four daughters. Katherine was buried at Crowan on 16 Mar 1662 and husband was also buried there 22 years later.
The couple married on 29th March 1637. This date coincides with the date the portrait was painted, given that the attire and hairstyle were fashionable in 1637. It is very likely that the portrait was commissioned to mark this important event in the sitter’s life, as was customary at the time. Furthermore, the figure is turned toward the viewer’s left, which was usually the manner in which a married woman would be depicted in English portraiture at the time (the pendant portrait, her husband, would have been turned toward the viewer’s right).
Cornelius Johnson (1593-1664) can be placed within the first rank of England’s portrait painters of the generation before Van Dyke. Cornelius Johnson was a painter beautifully sensitive to individual character and his careful and faithful depictions of clothing afford a priceless resource to historians – he was the first British-born portrait painter (born in London) to regularly sign and date his work. His precise, meticulous, and dignified portraits perfectly reflect the spirit of the arts in England at the time. He was sworn in as the King’s own painter in 1632. His work is found in most pubic collections in Britain and in many private collections – seen on the walls in many British country houses, in the possession of descendants of the original sitters.
Johnson was born into a Flemish/German immigrant family in 1593 in London. He is thought to have begun his independent practice in London, in about 1619. He became extremely prolific and he painted elegant images of the King, the Queen, and the whole court, many leading lawyers and public servants, but also a regional clientele away from the court primarily in Kent.
There are three old labels on verso (see photos); two refer to London storage firms and the surname ‘Scrimageour’ (which may be J & A Scrimgeour, insurance brokers located at 3 Lothbury, London EC2).
Provenance: Private UK collection
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Titan Fine Art has dated this piece to the 17th Century.
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C.1637 Portrait of a Lady, Katherine St Aubyn; Circle of Cornelius Johnson (1593-1664), Oil on Canvas Painting
