Sold....portrait of Lady Lucy Pelham by Cornelius Johnson

Oil on canvas in good quality carved and silver-gilt 17th c. Lely-panel frame.

(Although now rarely seen, at one point in the seventeenth century silver-gilt frames were very fashionable; Samuel Pepys had all his paintings framed so.)

This beautifully painted portrait is a fine example of Johnson's work...the material almost tangible in its realism, and, in this portrait in particular, the sitter's face depicted with great talent and sensitivity.

As one of Johnson's later works it shows the strong influence of Sir Anthony van Dyck.

LADY LUCY PELHAM born before 1631, died 1685.

She was the daughter of Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester and Lady Dorothy Percy (daughter of the 9th Earl of Norhumberland).

In 1647, the year between the First and Second Civil Wars, she married Sir John Pelham, 3rd Baronet (born before 1627, died 1702/3), son of Sir Thomas Pelham, 2nd Bt.

Sir John was M.P. for Hastings 1645-6, M.P. for Sussex 1660-98.

They had four children:-

* Henry Pelham d. 1 Apr 1721

* Elizabeth Pelham d. 13 Jul 1723

* Lucy Pelham d. 8 Jul 1721

* Thomas Pelham, 1st Baron Pelham of Laughton b. c 1653, d. 23 Feb 1711/12

Lady Lucy Pelham was also painted by Sir Peter Lely, now in the Collection of the Earl of Yarborough (also a Pelham).

CORNELIUS JOHNSON (also known as Jonson, Jansen, Van Ceulen) 1593-1661, was born in London, the son of Flemish emigres.

Although Waterhouse thought he was trained in Holland it seems more likely (as Collins Baker has it) that Marcus Gheeraerts was his master in London.

Johnson is the most satisfying and 'English' of the portraitists working in England in the first part of the seventeenth century. He has a fine technique with a restrained and introspective style, with careful attention to the costume details.

His accurate portraits are never flattering but a sober and objective portrayal of his usual sitters: the gentry and lesser nobility. His style is easily identified by its coolness and restraint.

SIZE: 30 x 25 inches canvas size.

37 x 32 inches inc. frame.

PROVENANCE: James Thursby Pelham of Cound Hall, Shropshire; thence by descent.

(The fifth photograph shows Cound Hall)

Verso: a 19th c. inscription identifying the sitter, but confusing the names of father and son.

LITERATURE: A. Finsberg, 'A Chronological List of Portraits by Cornelius Johnson', published by The Walpole Society in 1922 (p.30, no.87, fig. LXII).