Portrait of Richard Tomkins (C.1532-1603) Circa 1575; English School

This exquisite oil on panel portrait descended from the sitter through the family for almost 450 years, until recent. It is a splendid survival from the Elizabethan era - the golden age in England’s history.

Portraiture occupied a central place in 16th century British painting. Artists portrayed their clients in the manner set out by the terms of the commission. They were almost always intended to convey the sitter’s social status and rank in society. The fundamental principle governing all Tudor and Jacobean portraits is the recording and defining in visual terms the position of a sitter in society. The expensive fabrics, the attire, and the grand coat-of-arms as seen in the present portrait proclaim to every onlooker that this is a superior being. In Elizabethan collections there was a total absence of painter’s names and they were often unrecorded and deemed unimportant. This confirms that to the Elizabethan mind the recording of human likeness was connected with this concept of fame and social rank and the motivation of the great collections of the time was not aesthetic but dynastic; the idea of a painting as a work of art never existed, it was primarily an expression of rank and class. Painting was considered a mechanical skill – a trade – however this began to change at the close of Elizabeth’s reign.

This magnificent portrait was painted during the last quarter of the 16th century. The portrait represents Richard Tomkins who was described by the bishop of Hereford as ‘a man very well affected in religion’. Richard’s was 43 years of age when the portrait was painted according to the inscription.

Richard was born in Herefordshire and was a son of James Tomkins (1490-1561) who was a royal collector of revenue, and his second wife Margaret Kettleby (born 1520). Although Richard’s ancestors were amongst the Herefordshire gentry by 1433, they were not major freeholders until 1535 when his father bought the manor of Monnington, about 16 miles from Leominster (by 1553 the latter also acquired Garnston manor (sold in 1661) in the parish of Weobley). Richard married Catherina de Baskerville, the daughter and coheir of James Baskerville of Kyre Park, Herefordshire. It is thought that the couple had thirteen children.

Richard, like his father, was a royal officer responsible for taking ‘escheats’ from deceased subjects (a law that transfers the property of a person who has died without heirs to the Crown or state so that property is not left without recognised ownership). Richard was made Sherriff on 16th Nov 1592. He died in 1603 and was succeeded by his eldest son James (c.1569-1636), an English politician, who inherited the manors of Monnington and Garnston, a considerable domain south of Weobley. James was hanged in 1643 for raising an army for the King against Parliament.

The clothing depicted was fashionable attire for a wealthy gentleman - the small turned-over collar, slashed doublet, capotain hat, and hip length cloak. The collar is embroidered with ‘blackwork’ embroidery featuring large designs of flowers, fruit, and other patterns connected by curvilinear stems – this was a popular motif in England from the 1570’s.

Monnington Court was built in the 14th century but later remodelled. It contains two shields of the arms of Tomkins with the family crest inscribed "Crimini(e) mundatus, semper transire pe(a)ratus" and "Vive Deo gratus, toti mundo tumulatus.". The manor contains a moot hall (completed before 1230) a meeting place traditionally to decide local issues.

The portrait is endowed with an elaborate coat of arms of the Tomkins family. The rapid population growth and the unprecedented opportunities to acquire land and office during the Elizabethan period opened the gateway to individual advancement wider than ever before. With those factors came fierce competition for individual...

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