Circle of Godfrey Kneller Antique 1700's Old Master Oil Portrait Painting Lady

Description

An absolutely stunning large oil an canvas portrait painting of the noble lady Mrs Tolen (formerly Andrews) from the early 1700's. She is wearing a white frilled blouse with a gemstone and pearl brooch on her shoulder. A red cape is draped loosely across her shoulders and she has long dark hair.

There is a very old label on the reverse which states that the portraits of her two sisters Mrs Wood and Mrs Higginbotham are at Ratbury house. She is also the aunt of John Toler, 1st Earl of Norbury (1745 –1831), known as The Lord Norbury between 1800 and 1827, was an Irish lawyer, politician and judge. 

A photo is included of the label.  We have not been able to identify all the letters, but it reads:

" This   Ma---sell Andrews married ----- Toler of Beechwood, sister of Daniel Toler Earl of Beechwood who was father of John Toler Esq (chief justice of the le—mon.  Pleas--- who was Veseated Baron Norbury &   ---equeu--- Earl of Norbury (the portraits of her two sisters Mrs Wood and Mrs Higginbotham are at Ratbury house)  therefore John Andrews son of this Mrs Ma ---ell Andrews is a first cousin to John 1st Earl of Norbury"

Paintings by Godfrey Kneller often command high prices at auction.  An example has been included at the end of the photos.

Frame:

Presented in the original gilt wooden oval frame.

Provenance:

UK Private Collection

Condition:

Very good.  Painting and frame have been fully and professionally restored and will now give many years of problem free enjoyment.  There is old evidence of worm in the frame (this has been fully treated).  The painting has craquelure commensurate with its age.

Measurements:

Painting measure 74cm x 62cm and the overall frame 96cm x 84cm.

Biography:

Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (1646 – 1723) was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to English and British monarchs from Charles II to George I. His major works include The Chinese Convert (1687; Royal Collection, London); a series of four portraits of Isaac Newton painted at various junctures of the latter's life; a series of ten reigning European monarchs, including King Louis XIV of France; over 40 "Kit-cat portraits" of members of the Kit-Cat Club; and ten "beauties" of the court of William III, to match a similar series of ten beauties of the court of Charles II painted by his predecessor as court painter, Sir Peter Lely.

Kneller was born Gottfried Kniller and studied in Leiden, but became a pupil of Ferdinand Bol and Rembrandt in Amsterdam. He then travelled to Rome and Venice in the early 1670s, painting historical subjects and portraits in the studio of Carlo Maratti, and later moved to Hamburg. In 1676 he won the patronage of the Duke of Monmouth. He was introduced to, and painted a portrait of, Charles II. In England, Kneller concentrated almost entirely on portraiture. He founded a studio which churned out portraits on an almost industrial scale, relying on a brief sketch of the face with details added to a formulaic model, aided by the fashion for gentlemen to wear full wigs. His portraits set a pattern that was followed until William Hogarth and Joshua Reynolds.

When Sir Peter Lely died in 1680, Kneller was appointed Principal Painter to the Crown by Charles II. In the 1690s, Kneller painted the Hampton Court Beauties depicting the most glamorous ladies-in-waiting of the Royal Court for which he received his knighthood from William III. He produced a series of "Kit-cat" portraits of 48 leading politicians and men of letters, members of the Kit-Cat Club. Created a baronet by King George I on 24 May 1715, he was also head of the Kneller Academy of Painting and Drawing 1711-1716 in Great Queen Street, London, which counted such artists as Thomas Gibson amongst its founding directors. His paintings were praised by Whig luminaries such as John Dryden, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, and Alexander Pope.

Kneller died of fever in 1723 at Great Queen Street and his remains were interred at Twickenham.