Cheshire Antiques Consultant Ltd has dated this piece to the Before 1700 period.
Wearing his fine costume with all the lace frills, he is clutching his sword with his left hand whilst projecting such confidence and authority power in his pose.
Presented in a magnificent gilt frame.
Oil on canvas.
Historically significant portrait of the King of England, Scotland & Ireland and successor of Queen Elizabeth I.
James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a great-great-grandson of Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland, and thus a potential successor to all three thrones. He succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother was compelled to abdicate in his favour.
Four different regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578, though he did not gain full control of his government until 1583. In 1603, he succeeded the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, Elizabeth I, who died childless. He continued to reign in all three kingdoms for 22 years, a period known as the Jacobean era, until his death. After the Union of the Crowns, he based himself in England (the largest of the three realms) from 1603, returning to Scotland only once, in 1617, and styled himself "King of Great Britain and Ireland".
He was a major advocate of a single parliament for England and Scotland. In his reign, the Plantation of Ulster and English colonisation of the Americas began. At 57 years and 246 days, James's reign in Scotland was the longest of any Scottish monarch.
Works like this rare become available for public sale.
Unsigned.
Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (1646 – 1723) Kneller was born Gottfried Kneller in the Free City of Lübeck , the son of Zacharias Kniller. Kneller studied in Leiden, but became a pupil of Ferdinand Bol and perhaps Rembrandt himself in the 1660s. He was in Rome and Venice between 1672 and 1675, settling in England in 1676 for the remainder of his life.
Kneller was soon employed at Court and rapidly became the most successful portraitist during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. His work exuberantly expresses the spirit of the English Baroque, and his style greatly influenced other artists. He enjoyed the office of Principal Painter to the King, at first jointly with John Riley (d.1691), from shortly after the accession of William and Mary in 1688 until his death.
Kneller founded a studio which produced portraits en masse and to a formulaic model which started with a sketch of the face with details added later, this was helped somewhat by the penchant for wig wearing amounts gentlemen of the time. He was knighted in 1692 and became a baronet in 1715, he died of fever in 1723 and his remains were interred in the church of St. Mary's in Twickenham.
Hanging wire thread and bracket mounts on the back ready for home display.
Circa during 17th century.
Provenance purchased from a fine art auction & other labels verso Lane Fine Art Limited in London & Santini Bros.
Reference sources Englishmonarchs, Britannica, 1stdibs & wikipedia.
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Condition report.
Offered in fine used condition. The canvas has been relined, cleaned and re-varnished. Craquelure, with visible old crack lines to the paint which are now flat. With areas around the edge where the paint seems to have been worn but is now varnished flat. Paint repairs and re-touching thorough out. Set in magnificent later gilt wood frame, having some general wear minor chips in places commensurate with usage & age.
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Cheshire Antiques Consultant Ltd has dated this piece to the Before 1700 period.
Source the historic in 17th, 18th, 19th & 20th century fine arts, painting, sculptures & collectibles
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Oil Painting Portrait King James 1st England Circle Godfrey Kneller
