Portrait of a lady, seated, three-quarter-length, in a blue satin riding habit, holding a straw bonnet with red silk trim in her right hand, with a riding crop in her lap, in a landscape

Herman van der Mijn studied under Ernst Stuven (see lot 88), working as a flower painter, later moving to Rotterdam, Antwerp and then to Düsseldorf, where he worked for the Elector Palatine, and began to paint history pieces. In 1716, after the Elector's death, he returned to Antwerp, moving to London, circa 1721, where he developed a good portrait practice, in what Eills Waterhouse described as a 'neat, slightly metallic style, with meticulous accessories' (The Dictionary of British 18th Century Painters, Suffolk, 1981, p.384). His portrait of James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, is now in the National Portrait Gallery, London. Like Sir Godfrey Kneller, van der Mijn worked for the English court, returning with Prince William IV of Orange to the Netherlands. He later fell out of favour with his patron and returned to London, where he died.