Portrait of Lucy Gage Nee Knight in a White Satin Dress and Blue Wrap, Signed & Dated 1748 by John Theodore Heins (1697-1756), Hengrave Hall Provenance, Oil on Canvas

This exquisite work formed part of the family collection of the Gage Baronets at their magnificent Tudor manor Hengrave Hall, Suffolk (which has links to George Washington). The portrait hung in the manor on the Grand Staircase as part of a carefully compiled collection over two centuries, before it and the other contents, were sold in an eight-day sale in 1897 containing 1914 lots, including important works by Van Dyke, Peter Lely, and Godfrey Kneller.

The subject has been depicted in a feigned oval wearing a light-coloured silk dress with lace décolletage and sleeves, an elegant purple drapery, and a feather in her hair. A simple format with muted colours, there was no need to include exuberant props – the beauty of the sitter was ample enough to create an elegant and sophisticated portrait.

The sitter is Lady Lucy Gage who was born in c.1721 to William Knight of Kingerby (? - c.1728). On 28th February 1746 she married Sir Thomas Rookwood Gage (1719-1796) who became the 5th Baronet of Hengrave in Suffolk, and of Coldham Hall, Stanningfield, Suffolk. The Gage family were an ancient and distinguished one and claims its origins from ‘The Sire de Gaugi’ whose name is on the Roll of Battle Abbey as having fought at Hastings. Sir Thomas' mother, Elizabeth Rookwood (1684-1759), marked the occasion of the marriage by giving her son a diamond-studded buckle, earrings and a cross from her collection for his new wife. The couple had a son, Thomas Rookwood Gage, 6th Baronet, and three daughters. Lady Gage died on 3 September 1781 and was buried at Hengrave. Her husband died in 1796.

The portrait is signed and dated 'Heins Fec1748' and inscribed 'Lucy Lady Gage, da:of William Knight'.

Along with our portrait, which can be ranked as one of the best works from the artist’s oeuvre, Heins also painted her husband, Sir Thomas (both portraits are signed and dated 1748), and Sir Thomas’s mother, Elizabeth (all signed and dated 1748).

Held in a good quality carved and gilded frame, most likely the original frame.

Hengrave Hall is located near Bury St. Edmunds, England and was built in 1538. It’s occupants, the Kitson and Gage families 1525-1887 were both Roman Catholic recusants. Thomas Kitson was a London merchant and member of the Mercers Company. It contains the only collection of pre-reformation glass that has remained in situ in a domestic chapel anywhere in England - and window with the coat of arms of George Washington (one of Sir Thomas Kitson's daughters married into the Washington family. Elizabeth I and Mary I stayed at Hengrave as did James II, as Duke of York. The house contained an important collection Kitson and Gage historic manuscripts, dating back to the 12th Century, containing household accounts, which give a fascinating glimpse into domestic life in Tudor times, and include correspondence from King Henry VIII, Queen Mary and Thomas Washington, ancestor of George Washington and nephew of Thomas Kitson.

John Theodore Heins (1697-1756) was a painter whose work was of an exceptionally high quality on par with some of the foremost portrait painters in England at the time. Heins appears to have originated in Germany but moved to the UK and settled in Norwich around 1720. He had a wife called Abigail, a daughter and a son with the same name, John Theodore Heins (c.1732-1771), who also became a portrait painter. Heins died in 1756.

Provenance:

The sitter and by descent to Lord Kenmare,

His sale, the contents of Hengrave Hall, on the premises, 1897, Auctioneers Hampton & Sons (lot 504. Located on the Grand Staircase: “A pair of portraits of Sir Thomas Rokewood Gage, Lucy, Lady Gage, Heins 1748”;

The Rev Henry S Gladstone;

Christie's, London, 22 September 1978, lot 54; (various properties)

Christie’s, South Kensington, 25 November 2003, lot 13; (various properties)

Private collection, UK

Measurements: Height 94cm, Width 82cm framed (Height 37”, Width 32.25” framed)

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