Sold....portrait of Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester (?) C.1690, by John Closterman

Oil on canvas in Lely pattern gilt frame.

An extremely high quality portrait thought to be of Catherine Sedley; the sitter bears a very strong resemblance to a portrait of 1685 by Kneller at Kedleston Hall. (See Plate 96 'Painted Ladies. Women at the Court of Charles ll'. Published by the National Portrait Gallery).

As was the fashion the sitter is shown wearing her most informal garments, known as 'undress' yet she wears a diamond brooch and holds what seems to be a diamond necklace. (Until the 19th c. all diamonds were flat or table cut and thus appear as black gems in portraiture). One can only presume there was some significance in their depiction...perhaps relating to her engagement or marriage which occurred around this time.

CATHERINE SEDLEY, Countess of Dorchester, Countess of Portmore (c. 1657 – 26 October 1717), daughter of Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet, was the mistress of King James II both before and after he came to the throne.

She was created Countess of Dorchester for life in 1686, an elevation which aroused much indignation and compelled Catherine to reside for a time in Ireland. In 1696 she married Sir David Colyear, Bt., who was created Earl of Portmore in 1703, and she was thus the mother of Charles Colyear, 2nd Earl of Portmore. She died at Bath on 26 October 1717, when her life peerage became extinct.

By James II, Lady Dorchester had a daughter Lady Catherine Darnley (d. 1743), who married James Annesley, 3rd Earl of Anglesey, and after his death married John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby. Through Catherine, her daughter by her first husband, she was the ancestress of the Barons Mulgrave and of the Mitford sisters.

JOHN CLOSTERMAN (1660-1711), born in Osnabruck, settled in London in !681. He worked with John Riley until the latter's death in 1691.

By the 1690s Closterman was rediscovering earlier influences, especially the extravagant, textural, French manner he learned in Paris under François de Troy. He was adept at fashionable baroque poses, with rather showily painted draperies.

Closterman’s sense of theatre and his mastery of colour explains his appeal to a broad clientele, from nobles like the Dukes of Somerset and Marlborough to Sir Christopher Wren and Henry Purcell, the geniuses of the age.

SIZE: 58 x 47.75 inches inc. frame.

PROVENANCE: Private Berkshire Collection for many years