Roy Precious - Antiques & Fine Art has dated this piece to the 18th Century.
Equally fashionable was the ostrich feather trimmed tricorne hat and the cravat tied 'a la Steinkirk'.
(During the wars of Louis XIV of 1689–1697 the flowing cravat was replaced with the military "Steinkirk", named after the Battle of Steenkerque in 1692. The Steinkirk was a long, narrow, plain or lightly trimmed neckcloth wrapped once about the neck in a loose knot, with the lace of fringed ends twisted together and tucked out of the way into a button hole. The Steinkirk was popular with men and women until the 1720s.)
The boy stands on a stately terrace with an Italianate garden behind him; the beautifully painted Spaniel playfully crouching at his feet was probably a pet but is also a symbol of fidelity and trust.
CHARLES D'AGAR (1669 - 1723) came to England with his Huguenot father Jacques in 1681, settling here permanently after a stay in Copenhagen by 1691. He had a good practice, numbering such people as the Duke of Buccleuch and Lord Bolingbroke among his patrons.
D'Agar painted very much in the style of Michael Dahl, whose portraits of children are very similar, especially in the treatment of the hair.
This portrait is strongly reminiscent of a portrait of Lord George Douglas in the collection of the Dukes of Buccleuch, which was painted in 1709. Payment of £16 2s 6d was paid for this.
SIZE: 58 x 49 inches inc. frame.
PROVENANCE: a country house collection in the South West of England.
With Roy Precious Fine Art.
Collection of a Fellow of a Cambridge College.
Roy Precious - Antiques & Fine Art has dated this piece to the 18th Century.
Roy and nadine precious: specialists in portraiture from the 16th to the 20th century. Established in 1972.
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Portrait of a Young Boy and His Spaniel C.1710, by Charles D'agar
