C.1656 Pair of Portraits Gentleman & Lady, William & Rachel Helyar; Circle of Robert Walker, Oil on Canvas Paintings, Civil War Period

These fascinating portraits depict Colonel William Helyar and his wife Rachel Helyar. They are exquisite examples of portraiture during the Interregnum when England was under various forms of republican government.

The history of the seventeenth century is in part the story of the Stewarts but another fascinating dynasty also ruled Britain: the Cromwell’s. Between 1653 and 1659, following the Civil Wars, Oliver Cromwell governed as Lord Protector followed by his son Richard. Cromwell’s Protectorate is usually imagined as a grey, joyless, military regime - but it was actually a colourful and fashionable court where music and the arts flourished, masques were revived and the first English operas performed. When Cromwell was invested as Lord Protector for the second time, the lavish ceremony and procession through London rivalled any previous coronation for pageantry with thousands lining the streets, bells ringing, bonfires blazing and free French wine flowed through the city.

The gentleman in our portrait is Colonel William Helyar (1621-1698), Sheriff of Somerset and as a Royalist during the English Civil War. The Helyar’s were one of the most prominent old families of the South-West. Colonel William Helyar raised a troop of horse for King Charles I but was captured and his estates were sequestered, but later returned and he was discharged and pardoned on payment of £1,522.

The companion portrait is the Colonel’s wife, Rachel Helyar (c.1633-1678), the youngest daughter and co-heir of Sir Hugh Wyndham, 1st Baronet of Pilsdon Court (not be confused with his first cousin also Sir Hugh Wyndham (bef. 1604 - 1684). Rachel was a thirteenth generation descendant of King Henry III.

The couple married in 1656 - the portraits were most likely painted to mark this event. Rachel holds roses, the flower of love, and the putto pouring water is representative of her purity, and possibly, the plighting of troth. Colonel Helyar wears a gold wedding band. The couple resided at the family seat of Coker Court (the churchyard contains the remains of the poet T.S. Eliot, who wrote a poem about East Coker). Colonel Helyar died December 1697 and was buried at Whitechurch, Dorset 2 Jan 1698.

The period in which the portraits were painted was known as the Protectorate (1653-1659). This period offered relative peace, as the English Civil War ended in 1651. It was an interesting time for portraiture – in between the dominance of Van Dyke and Peter Lely. Sitters, on the whole, were not shown as the Roundheads and Cavaliers of popular history. In fact, it is usually impossible to guess their political allegiances from the style of their portrait as portraits on both sides followed the same conventions and looked identical.

The small string bow Rachel wears at her temple was a short-lived fashion… it demonstrates that she was desirous to be shown as a fashionable young woman. The elongated fingers were the epitome of female beauty.

Little is known of Robert Walker’s training and his life. He was a favoured artist of the Parliamentarians although he did depict Royalists such as: Sir John Ramsden Kt (1594-1646), Henry Spencer, 1st Earl of Sunderland and 3rd Baron Spencer (1620-1643), and also Sir William Fermor, 1st Baronet (1621-1661). His depiction of Cromwell is the definitive likenesses of the Protector. He often employed van Dykian elements – in ours, the clutching of the scarf with a slight twist of the wrist (a technically difficult pose to render).

In period gilded Lely panel frames.

Provenance:

By descent through the sitter’s family at Coker Court, Somerset. An inventory of Coker Coker taken in 1723 lists “In ye chambers over ye Servants' Hall, Mr Helyar, senior and his first Lady's pictures”. A further inventory in 1728 lists “Mr Helyar, senior and his first Lady's pictures' £6”.

132 x 112cm framed (52 x 44” framed)

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