Portrait of a lady, half-length, holding a fan

Details

Dutch School, circa 1650
Portrait of a lady, half-length, holding a fan
oil on canvas
37 x 27¾ in. (94 x 70.5 cm.)

Provenance

Robert Napier, West Shandon, Dunbartonshire; (+) Christie's, London, 14 April 1877, lot 596, as van der Tempel (18½ gns. to Waters).
with Galerie Commeter, Hamburg, as van der Tempel (according to a label on the reverse).

Literature

J.C. Robinson, Catalogue of the Works of Art forming the collection of Robert Napier, of West Shandon, Dunbartonshire, London, 1865, p. 48, no. 460, as van der Temple.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This portrait was owned by one of the great Victorian industrialists, Robert Napier, who was often called the 'Father of Clyde Shipbuilding'. Napier built steamship engines, winning contracts with the East India Trading Company and the Admiralty - becoming the latter'’s primary engine builder - and co-founding the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. He built his home in West Shandon, by Garloch, to house his remarkable art collection, which included works by Henry Raeburn, as well as Dutch, French and Italian Old Masters. When the collection was sold at Christie'’s after his death it realszed the princely sum of £49,000.

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