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Lot Essay
This work relates closely to the portrait of Sir John Harpur by John Kerseboom sold by Sotheby's in London, 8 April 1992, lot 26.
The sitter was the son of Sir John Harpur, 3rd. Bt. of Calke Abbey, Derbyshire and his wife Anne, daughter of William, 6th Baron Willoughby of Parham. He succeeded to the baronetcy at the age of two in 1681, and was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford. By 1701, he had accumulated a substantial amount of money, and proceeded to rebuild his mansion at Calke, disguising all traces of its Elizabethan origins. He was made Sherrif of Derbyshire in 1702. In 1709 he married Catherine, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas, 2nd Baron Crewe of Steane. Their son Henry was MP for Worcester and Tamworth, and married Caroline, daughter of John, 2nd Duke of Rutland. He died in 1741 at Calke, and is commemorated by a monument by Henry Cheere in Calke Church.
The sitter was the son of Sir John Harpur, 3rd. Bt. of Calke Abbey, Derbyshire and his wife Anne, daughter of William, 6th Baron Willoughby of Parham. He succeeded to the baronetcy at the age of two in 1681, and was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford. By 1701, he had accumulated a substantial amount of money, and proceeded to rebuild his mansion at Calke, disguising all traces of its Elizabethan origins. He was made Sherrif of Derbyshire in 1702. In 1709 he married Catherine, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas, 2nd Baron Crewe of Steane. Their son Henry was MP for Worcester and Tamworth, and married Caroline, daughter of John, 2nd Duke of Rutland. He died in 1741 at Calke, and is commemorated by a monument by Henry Cheere in Calke Church.