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Lot Essay
The sitter of this superb miniature has been variously identified as King James V when exhibited in 1861 and later as possibly George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland (1558-1605). This miniature was painted circa 1600 but bears the date 1614 which is a later addition. This date is painted in a different gold to Hilliard's inscription and the sitter's age has been removed but under magnification, it looks possibly to have been '40' thus precluding the sitter as Cumberland who was born in 1558 and died in 1605. Physically the present sitter does not compare with accepted portraits of either James V or Cumberland, although Hilliard painted Cumberland several times. Two probably later copies after the present miniature, one in the Cholmondeley Collection, and one in the Pierpont Morgan Collection (G. C. Williamson, Catalogue of the Collection of Portrait Miniatures, The Property of J. Pierpont Morgan, London, 1906, I, no. 44, as by Isaac Oliver) are both said to depict Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex (1566-1601).
The inclusion of the helmet in the present miniature is unusual in Hilliard's oeuvre of this size, while helmets are often portrayed in his large cabinet-sized miniatures. The cabinet miniature of circa 1590 of George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich shows him standing full-length as Knight of Pendragon Castle in star-studded armour with the Queen's diamond-set glove in his hat and his plumed helmet lying at his feet. Hilliard's miniature of Cumberland, circa 1590, in the Starr Collection, Atkins Museum, Kansas City (G. Reynolds, The Starr Collection of Miniatures, Kansas City, 1971, no. 3) also demonstrates the artist's use of background in his miniatures. Here Cumberland is pictured in armour with his impresa of a fork of lightening and motto.
While the helmet in the present work is awkwardly placed in the composition, it does not appear to have been added and indeed the yellow pigment in the plumes is the same as that in the yellow scarf.
We are grateful to Mr. Alan Derbyshire of the Victoria and Albert Museum for his help with this catalogue entry.
The inclusion of the helmet in the present miniature is unusual in Hilliard's oeuvre of this size, while helmets are often portrayed in his large cabinet-sized miniatures. The cabinet miniature of circa 1590 of George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich shows him standing full-length as Knight of Pendragon Castle in star-studded armour with the Queen's diamond-set glove in his hat and his plumed helmet lying at his feet. Hilliard's miniature of Cumberland, circa 1590, in the Starr Collection, Atkins Museum, Kansas City (G. Reynolds, The Starr Collection of Miniatures, Kansas City, 1971, no. 3) also demonstrates the artist's use of background in his miniatures. Here Cumberland is pictured in armour with his impresa of a fork of lightening and motto.
While the helmet in the present work is awkwardly placed in the composition, it does not appear to have been added and indeed the yellow pigment in the plumes is the same as that in the yellow scarf.
We are grateful to Mr. Alan Derbyshire of the Victoria and Albert Museum for his help with this catalogue entry.