Roy Precious - Antiques & Fine Art has dated this piece to the 1700s.
Verso: old label "Sparkes. Wonersh. Married Hennisy (sic) Sarker(?) 18 yr"
The Sparkes family were large landowners in the Bramley and Wonersh areas during the 18th & 19th C. The name appears in the parish registers and monuments in both Wonersh and Bramley, however evidence of the relationship between the parts of the family (whose residences included in Rowleys, Littley Tangley & Green Place) has not so far been found.
Green Place in Wonersh is adjacent to the Church. In the 15th Century it was the home of the Elyott family (whose brasses record the life of Thomas and his son Henry). After they left the house fell into disrepair and is recorded in the 17th C as being in a state of dilapidation. Richard Sparkes (1715-1786) evidently purchased the property and so their family name first appears in Wonersh. (The house today features a big curved staircase of this period that is thought to have been the inspiration for E H Shepherd for his illustration to AA Milne’s poem “Halfway Down”, which shows Pooh Bear lying at the top of a staircase.)
MICHAEL DAHL (1659-1743) was born in Stockholm; after studying in Paris, Rome and Frankfurt he settled in London. He soon became the best patronised portrait painter in England after Kneller. He was much employed at the Court painting many portraits; a great patron of the 1690s was the Duke of Somerset, for whom he painted the series of portraits of Court ladies known as the 'Petworth Beauties'.
SIZE: 40 x 32.75 inches including the frame.
PROVENANCE: Berkshire private collection.
Roy Precious - Antiques & Fine Art has dated this piece to the 1700s.
Roy and nadine precious: specialists in portraiture from the 16th to the 20th century. Established in 1972.
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A Lady of the Sparkes Family C1700; Follower of Dahl.
