Portrait of Mrs. Fountaine, bust-length, in a brown dress; Portrait of Edward Clent, half-length, with a white lace stock, and a silken tunic (illustrated); Portrait of Mrs. Clent, bust-length, her hair curling over her shoulder; and Portrait of Edward Clent , bust-length, in a blue tunic

Details

Attributed to Augustus Armstrong (c.1700-1730)
Portrait of Mrs. Fountaine, bust-length, in a brown dress; Portrait of Edward Clent, half-length, with a white lace stock, and a silken tunic (illustrated); Portrait of Mrs. Clent, bust-length, her hair curling over her shoulder; and Portrait of Edward Clent
, bust-length, in a blue tunic
inscribed respectively 'Mrs Fountaine/Daughter of Sr. Thomas Chichley/of Wimple/By Armstrong' (on an old label attached to the backing), 'Edward Clent Esq/of Knightwick/in Worcestershire/by Armstrong' (on an old label attached to the backing), 'Elizabeth Fountaine/afterwards/Mrs CLENT' (on the backing), and 'Edward Clent' (on the backing)
pastel
10¼ x 7¼ in. (26 x 18.4 cm.); and slightly smaller (4)

Provenance

By descent in the family.

Literature

A. Fontaine, Portraits of the Fountaine Family at Narford, 1869, p.38-9.

Lot Essay

Little is known about the artist of these portraits in pastel. Vertue mentions a 'Mr Armstrong, painter', as owning a portrait of 1717 (Walpole Society, vol.XVIII, 1930, 'Vertue I', p.48); in addition there is a mezzotint of 1743 inscribed as being after Augustus Armstrong (see E.K. Waterhouse, Dictionary of British 18th Century Painters, Woodbridge, Suffolk 1981, p.30).
Sarah, the daughter of Sir Thomas Chicheley, Master of Ordnance, married Andrew Fountaine, M.P., of Narford (1632-1706), as his second wife. Their son, Sir Andrew (1676-1753), succeeded Sir Isaac Newton as Warden of the Royal Mint. Their daughter Elizabeth married Colonel Edward Clent and their grandson Mr Brigg Price took the name of Fountaine and inherited the family house, Narford Hall (see lot 52).

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