Portrait of a Gentleman in Armour Beside a Table with Helmut C.1685; Follower of Johann Kerseboom (D.1708), Oil on Canvas Painting

This portrait, painted circa 1685, formed part the Legh family collection at their magnificent home, Adlington Hall, where they lived for over 700 years. Adlington was built on the site of a Saxon hunting-lodge and became the home of the Legh family during the reign of Edward Il. Through this portrait, collectors have a chance to acquire an evocative vestige from a glittering aristocratic way of life that is fast disappearing.

This large-scale portrait depicts a gentleman in full armour of highly polished steel and a rapier and a helmet with a large plume by his side. It is intended to underline his heroic visage and wealth and status in society and is the archetypal portrait of a gentleman at a time when soldiering was a career. The manner in which portraits were painted was set out by the terms of the commission and usually marked significant life events such as a betrothal, a death, or career as is most likely the case here. It is datable to circa 1690 when the full bottomed wig with its loose curls was fashionable. He is most likely a member of the Legh family, as the portrait formed part of the Legh family collection of portraits.

The ancient family of Legh stand high amongst the distinguished lines of Englishmen anciently established in Cheshire which were already established there having been granted many estates by William the Conqueror after the Norman Conquest in 1066. In 1596 Sir Urian Legh joined the earl of Essex in Elizabeth I’s expedition against the Spaniards and having taken a leading part in the siege of Cadiz, received the honour of knighthood on the field.

Adlington in Cheshire is one of that county’s oldest landholdings. Tradition has it that the roof of the famed Great Hall is supported my two pillars hewn from oak trees which still have their roots planted in the Cheshire soil beneath. Set within its sprawling estate, it has a rich history spanning over 700 years and is a reflection of the changing social, architectural, and political landscapes of England.

Adlington is mentioned in the Domesday survey as Edulvinstane, which was owned before the Conquest by the Saxon Earl Edwin and then by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester and nephew of William the Conqueror. On Lupus’s death, the manor reverted to the Crown and, early in the 13th century, was granted to the Norman family of de Corona. The last member of the family to own it, having no heir, gave the manor to his sister, Ellen, and her husband, John de Legh and has been the seat of the Legh family since 1315.

The great hall rises uninterruptedly from floor to roof, and has a minstrel's and a lady's gallery opening into it. It is 45’ long, 26’ wide, and about 25’ heigh. The open hammer-beamed roof is richly panelled and each panel is adorned with an armorial shield. The heraldic insignia of the seven Norman earls of Chester, and of their eight barons, are displayed in the first three rows.

During the Civil War the moat was put to its proper defensive use when the estate was besieged by parliamentary forces. The toll this period took on the collection is still evident in a double portrait which was defaced by sword-slashes made by billeted parliamentarians, and bullet holes can been seen in three or four places in the massive oak door to the Hall.

Johann Kerseboom (or Casaubon) was an artist of German descent and the nephew of the painter Frederick Kerseboom who studied under Poussin, and signed portraits from him exist in England from 1683. It is thought that he trained in Holland before coming to England in the 1680's. His early works were influenced by William Wissing but he developed his own style and sometimes collaborated with Wissing’s former assistant, Jan Van der Vaart (whom he left his estate to upon his death in 1708).

Provenance:

The Legh family at Adlington Hall, Cheshire

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