SIR GODFREY KNELLER* (1646-1723)

Property ofTHE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM Sold to benefit its Acquisitions Fund

Details

SIR GODFREY KNELLER* (1646-1723)

Portrait of a Gentleman, said to be Francis, 2nd Earl of Godolphin
bust length, wearing a blue coat and white cravat--in a feigned oval

signed with initials 'G.K'--oil on canvas
30 x 25¼in. (76.2 x 64.2cm.)

Provenance

J. H. C. Evelyn; (+) Christie's, London, Nov. 2, 1972, lot 233 as signed, inscribed and dated 1714 on the reverse (420gns. to Douglas)
with Old Hall Gallery, Sussex, 1973

Literature

J. Douglas Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait, 1983, p. 107, no. 305

Lot Essay

Francis Godolphin (1678-1766) was the only child of Sidney, 1st Earl of Godolphin. Educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, he became Member of Parliament for Helston in 1701-2 and, on his Father's death in 1712, was elevated to the House of Lords. From 1727-35 he was first Lord of the Bedchamber to George II, and from 1735-40 he was Lord Privy Seal.

In 1698 he married Lady Henrietta, eldest daughter of the 1st Duke of Marlborough, who on her Father's death succeeded to the title. She died in October 1733, thirty three years before her husband