William Wissing (Amsterdam 1656-1687 Burleigh)

Portrait of a Lady, believed to be Lucy Walters (1630?-1658), seated three-quarter length in a landscape, with a spaniel

Details

William Wissing (Amsterdam 1656-1687 Burleigh)
Portrait of a Lady, believed to be Lucy Walters (1630?-1658), seated three-quarter length in a landscape, with a spaniel
inscribed 'Lucy Waters' (center right)
oil on canvas
49 x 39 in. (124.5 x 99 cm.)

Provenance

H.R.H. The Princess Royal; her sale, Christie's, London (as by Sir P. Lely).
with Leggatt Brothers, London.
Nelson & Eloise Davis, Toronto;
Anonymous sale, Christie's New York, 6 March 2002, lot 164. Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

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Lot Essay

Lucy Walters (Waters) was the daughter of a Welsh royalist who went into exile in The Hague with Charles II's court. She became the mistress, firstly of Colonel Robert Sidney and then of Charles II. She was bribed by Charles's friends to return to England and was arrested in London in 1656 as a spy. She was exiled to Holland and later died in Paris. It was widely rumoured that she and the King had married, something which he strenuously denied.

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