An independent scholar is seeking advice on the practice of the drapery painters Joseph (c.1699-1749) and Alexander (1701-1757) Van Aken/Vanhaecken: From roughly 1725 to 1760 a large majority of British portraits’ clothing & landscapes were supposedly painted by the workshop of Joseph Van Haecken (d. 1749) and his brother Alexander. The link between him and […]
Leeanne Westwood, Curator at Valence House Museum, is researching artist attributions for a recent donation of nine Fanshawe family miniatures, and one loan to the collection. The ten paintings are shown below along with what information as to sitter identity and dating is currently known. To share your thoughts on possible artists, please use the […]
A member is looking for information on an eighteenth-century portraitist called Clifford (forenames unknown), who executed the adjoining painting. “Clifford appears to have been a travelling portrait painter who spent some time in Cornwall and resided for a while in Truro. This portrait (top left, and bottom) shows Francis Jenkins of Truro (1756- 1839). He […]
A network member is seeking assistance in identifying the sitters in this group portrait or the subject matter, and ideas as to artist. “I am researching a portrait which was originally thought to represent Samuel Foote with David Garrick and his wife Eva Maria Veigel, but this identification has now been disproved. There is evidence […]
A query from a private collector, a member of the Understanding British Portraits professional network: This portrait of a young man wearing the Order of the Garter and another medallion showing a bronze portrait relief suspended from a blue ribbon has always been known anecdotally as a portrait of ‘Major Blachford’. However Blachford was not […]
The Grosvenor Museum has recently acquired three late 18th/early 19th century portraits of members of the Bayley family of Nantwich, Cheshire. They have just gone on display, following conservation. The sitters are reasonably well documented but the artists are unknown
Valence House Museum has submitted the following query: “This portrait has been given to us on loan for identification. Nothing is known about this portrait other than a suggestion that it may show Lady Ann Fanshawe (1625-1680). However, we do not believe this to be correct. Any suggestions regarding execution date and artist would be […]
Valence House Museum has submitted the following query: “The attached portrait has been given to us on loan for identification. A handwritten note on the reverse suggests that it is of Elizabeth Fanshawe, née Cockayne (1609-1667/8) by Sir Peter Lely. In 1629 Elizabeth became the 2nd wife of Viscount Fanshawe. We would like to clarify […]
Acquired by Valence House Museum in 1972, very little is known about these two portraits. The sitters are wearing mid-17th century clothing and the portraits seem to form a pair. The paintings have been removed from their stretchers and appear to have undergone conservation at some point, possibly following fire damage. Any suggestions as to […]
This portrait in an American private collection was purchased at auction with the following cataloguing: ‘Portrait of a Lady, possibly Mrs. William Wilson, neé Miss Caroline Fry (1787-1846), early 19th c., circle of Sir Thomas Lawrence, oil on canvas, unsigned, 36 in. x 29 in., in inner liner of original frame. The sitter depicted here […]
