Portrait of a lady, three-quarter-length, in a yellow dress with ornate pearl bodice and a blue wrap, by a fountain in a landscape

Details

Attributed to John Michael Wright (1617-1694)
Portrait of a lady, three-quarter-length, in a yellow dress with ornate pearl bodice and a blue wrap, by a fountain in a landscape
oil on canvas
44½ x 36 in. (113 x 91.4 cm.)

Provenance

Kenyon-Slaney; Sotheby's, London, 10 December, 1925, lot 108 (as 'Princess Elizabeth', by John Michael Wright).
Mrs St. John Hawkins.
with Leggatt Brothers, London, 1944;
Christie's, London, 15 December, 1944, lot 92 (80 guineas to Lt. Col. E.W.J. Bence).
Mrs Hugh Guerney, and by descent to
Peter Guerney; Sotheby's, London, 4 May, 1966, lot 26 (sold 180 guineas).
Douglas Wing, Rye, Sussex.
Anonymous sale, Christie's, New York, 9 January, 1981, lot 166, where purchased by the present owner.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

The sitter has traditionally been identified as Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia (1596-1662), sister of King Charles I, and wife of Frederick V, Elector Palatine. She became Queen of Bohemia in 1619 when her husband accepted the crown from the Bohemian diet. However, the present work can be dated according to the sitter's costume to approximately a decade after the Queen of Bohemia's death, circa 1670-1674.

We are grateful to Sheila Russell for her help in the dating of this picture. From a photograph, Sir Oliver Millar believes the costume may be French and doubts the attribution to Wright. However, on the basis of a photograph, Dr Duncan Thomson believes the picture is likely to be by Wright.

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