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Lot Essay
The arms and crest in the upper right hand corner of this portrait are those of the Palmer family of Gloucester and Warwickshire (see C. Blair, op. cit., p. 174, and p. 244, note 68). The sitter has been identified as William Palmer of Lemington, near Todenham, Gloucestershire, since before 1784, when the picture was in the possession of the Delabere family of Southam Delabere (see R. Bigland, op.cit, p. 377).
The Gentlemen Pensioners were a band of gentlemen of noble blood originally set up by King Henry VIII in 1509, and later reestablished in 1539, closely corresponding to the Compagnie de Cent Gentilhommes de La Maison du Roi instituted by King Louis XI of France in 1474. The purpose of the band was semi-military as Nevinson (op. cit.) outlines:
'its members were the King's retainers, who with their own followers and as part of their exercise in arms could and did take the field at Battle of the Spurs in 1513 and at Pinkie in 1547. They were part of the standing force, although they did not, except on the field of battle, perform the regular duty of guarding the King's Person.
Sir William Palmer is included in the first list of the Pensioners of 1539, and this portrait is particularly interesting as the earliest known portrait of a Gentleman Pensioner. The Gentlemen Pensioners, although helped by occasional grants of gowns, had to provide their own arms and equip themselves and their attendants and, as Nevinson points out, 'no portrait therefore of any of one of the thirty odd Spears whose names are to be found in the Calendar of State Papers shows anything which would distinguish the wearer as a member of the Band' (op. cit, p. 2). This portrait, however, gives an indication of the type of attire and arms which characterised the Gentlemen Pensioners.
The precise early provenance of the portrait is not entirely clear. It seems likely that the picture was eventually inherited by Giles Palmer, the sitter's younger brother, who became his brother's heir on the death of the latter's son, John, without issue. The exact connection between the Palmer family and the Delabere family, in whose collection the portrait was certainly by 1784 is, however, obscure. Ralph Bigland (op. cit.) recorded that the pictures of 'the Palmers, Sir Thomas Overbury, and the Rutters belonged to Sir John Hales and with his own Portrait, were brought to Southam as a consequence of the marriage of Kinard De La Bere and Joan his daughter, in 1650.' but the relationship between the Palmer family and Hales is not elaborated.
Andrew Wright, to whom this portrait was attributed in the 18th Century (R. Bigland, op. cit.) was Serjeant-Painter to the King from 19 June 1532 until his death in 1543. His only documented work is, however, decorative in nature, and it seems unlikely that he painted portraits. Stylistically an attribution to Gerard Flicke is more likely. Flicke was born in Osnabruck, Germany, but came to England circa 1545 having been trained in the Westphalian tradition of portraiture. He found some patronage at court but his involvement in religious politics limited his success. This work can be compared to his three signed portraits: Thomas Cramner, of 1546, The Portrait of a Nobleman, identified as William, Lord Grey de Wilton, and the Self Portrait with 'Red Rover' Strangways, of 1554 (see R. Strong, The English Icon: Elizabethan and Jacobean Portraiture, London, 1969, pp. 77-79).
The Gentlemen Pensioners were a band of gentlemen of noble blood originally set up by King Henry VIII in 1509, and later reestablished in 1539, closely corresponding to the Compagnie de Cent Gentilhommes de La Maison du Roi instituted by King Louis XI of France in 1474. The purpose of the band was semi-military as Nevinson (op. cit.) outlines:
'its members were the King's retainers, who with their own followers and as part of their exercise in arms could and did take the field at Battle of the Spurs in 1513 and at Pinkie in 1547. They were part of the standing force, although they did not, except on the field of battle, perform the regular duty of guarding the King's Person.
Sir William Palmer is included in the first list of the Pensioners of 1539, and this portrait is particularly interesting as the earliest known portrait of a Gentleman Pensioner. The Gentlemen Pensioners, although helped by occasional grants of gowns, had to provide their own arms and equip themselves and their attendants and, as Nevinson points out, 'no portrait therefore of any of one of the thirty odd Spears whose names are to be found in the Calendar of State Papers shows anything which would distinguish the wearer as a member of the Band' (op. cit, p. 2). This portrait, however, gives an indication of the type of attire and arms which characterised the Gentlemen Pensioners.
The precise early provenance of the portrait is not entirely clear. It seems likely that the picture was eventually inherited by Giles Palmer, the sitter's younger brother, who became his brother's heir on the death of the latter's son, John, without issue. The exact connection between the Palmer family and the Delabere family, in whose collection the portrait was certainly by 1784 is, however, obscure. Ralph Bigland (op. cit.) recorded that the pictures of 'the Palmers, Sir Thomas Overbury, and the Rutters belonged to Sir John Hales and with his own Portrait, were brought to Southam as a consequence of the marriage of Kinard De La Bere and Joan his daughter, in 1650.' but the relationship between the Palmer family and Hales is not elaborated.
Andrew Wright, to whom this portrait was attributed in the 18th Century (R. Bigland, op. cit.) was Serjeant-Painter to the King from 19 June 1532 until his death in 1543. His only documented work is, however, decorative in nature, and it seems unlikely that he painted portraits. Stylistically an attribution to Gerard Flicke is more likely. Flicke was born in Osnabruck, Germany, but came to England circa 1545 having been trained in the Westphalian tradition of portraiture. He found some patronage at court but his involvement in religious politics limited his success. This work can be compared to his three signed portraits: Thomas Cramner, of 1546, The Portrait of a Nobleman, identified as William, Lord Grey de Wilton, and the Self Portrait with 'Red Rover' Strangways, of 1554 (see R. Strong, The English Icon: Elizabethan and Jacobean Portraiture, London, 1969, pp. 77-79).