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Lot Essay
This sitter has been traditionally identified as Sir John Rarlace, but it seems possible that he is the Sir John Barlace or Borlase, identified in J. J. Foster Samuel Cooper and the English Miniature Painters of the XVII Century, London, 1914-16, p. 14, no. 24 (as Sir John Borlase or Borlace, 3rd Bt. of Brockmore), painted circa 1658. No further description is given of the work although it was then owned by Lord Vernon and is referred to in notes on a painting of Sir John Borlace, 2nd Bt. shown at the New Gallery, Van Dyck, 1886, no. 91.
Sir John Borlase, 2nd Bt. (1642-1689) was the son of Sir John Borlase, 1st Bt. (1619-1672) and his wife, Alice Bancks. Borlase was returned as M.P. for Wycombe from 1673 until 1681, and as M.P. for Great Marlow from 1685 until 1689. He died unmarried and the baronetcy became extinct upon his death. In the present work, he bears a strong resemblance to his father as painted by Sir Anthony van Dyck, now in the collection of the National Trust, at Kingston Lacy (inv. no. 1257065).
Samuel Cooper was born in London where he and his brother, Alexander, were raised by his uncle John Hoskins. Hoskins was a miniature painter (see lots 37, 95, 96 and 100) and trained the two brothers in the art of limning until around 1641-1642 when Samuel set up an independent practice. It is possible that the studio of Hoskins may have been close to that of Sir Anthony Van Dyck given that Samuel Cooper's earliest biographer, Richard Graham, noted that Cooper 'derived the most considerable Advantages, from the Observations which he made on the Works of Van Dyck (K. Hearn [ed.], exhibition catalogue Van Dyck & Britain, London, 2009, p. 181). One of Samuel Cooper's earliest miniatures, of circa 1635, depicts Van Dyck's mistress, Margaret Lemon. During the Civil War and interregnum period, Cooper's patrons included Oliver Cromwell, who commissioned portraits of his family, and fellow Roundheads and Cavaliers. Following the Restoration in 1660 he caught the attention of King Charles II who had already learned of Cooper's reputation whilst in exile and by 1663 he had been appointed King's Limner. In 1660 or 1662 he drew the King's head for the coinage, watched by John Evelyn who held the candle to cast the shadows (see G. Reynolds, The Sixteenth and Seventeenth-century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, London, 1999, p. 127). On Cooper's death in May 1672, the artist Charles Beale (1632-1705) wrote that he had been 'the most famous limner in the world for a face' (K. Hearn [ed.], supra.)
Sir John Borlase, 2nd Bt. (1642-1689) was the son of Sir John Borlase, 1st Bt. (1619-1672) and his wife, Alice Bancks. Borlase was returned as M.P. for Wycombe from 1673 until 1681, and as M.P. for Great Marlow from 1685 until 1689. He died unmarried and the baronetcy became extinct upon his death. In the present work, he bears a strong resemblance to his father as painted by Sir Anthony van Dyck, now in the collection of the National Trust, at Kingston Lacy (inv. no. 1257065).
Samuel Cooper was born in London where he and his brother, Alexander, were raised by his uncle John Hoskins. Hoskins was a miniature painter (see lots 37, 95, 96 and 100) and trained the two brothers in the art of limning until around 1641-1642 when Samuel set up an independent practice. It is possible that the studio of Hoskins may have been close to that of Sir Anthony Van Dyck given that Samuel Cooper's earliest biographer, Richard Graham, noted that Cooper 'derived the most considerable Advantages, from the Observations which he made on the Works of Van Dyck (K. Hearn [ed.], exhibition catalogue Van Dyck & Britain, London, 2009, p. 181). One of Samuel Cooper's earliest miniatures, of circa 1635, depicts Van Dyck's mistress, Margaret Lemon. During the Civil War and interregnum period, Cooper's patrons included Oliver Cromwell, who commissioned portraits of his family, and fellow Roundheads and Cavaliers. Following the Restoration in 1660 he caught the attention of King Charles II who had already learned of Cooper's reputation whilst in exile and by 1663 he had been appointed King's Limner. In 1660 or 1662 he drew the King's head for the coinage, watched by John Evelyn who held the candle to cast the shadows (see G. Reynolds, The Sixteenth and Seventeenth-century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, London, 1999, p. 127). On Cooper's death in May 1672, the artist Charles Beale (1632-1705) wrote that he had been 'the most famous limner in the world for a face' (K. Hearn [ed.], supra.)