A PAIR OF QUEEN ANNE NEEDLEWORK PORTRAIT PANELS

CIRCA 1710

Details

A PAIR OF QUEEN ANNE NEEDLEWORK PORTRAIT PANELS
CIRCA 1710
Each woven in polychrome silks and wool, depicting a man and a woman said to be the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, in ebonised moulded frames, each with circular paper label inscribed in ink '1168'
24 x 11 in. (61 x 28 cm.), including frames (2)

Provenance

The late Fred Skull, Esq., sold Christie's London, 23 April 1952, lot 239.
Anonymous sale, Christie's London, 7 July 1994, lot 16.

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Lot Essay

These panels were part of the exceptional collection formed under the guidance of R.W. Symonds by the celebrated connoisseur Fred Skull in the early years of the 20th century. In 1929, Skull purchased and restored Battetsbury Manor, a Jacobean country house in High Wycombe which housed the collection. The house and collection are discussed in a two-part article in Country Life, 30 September 1933, pp. 338-341 and 7 October 1933, pp. 362-366.

The portraits supposedly depict John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) and Sarah Jennings, Duchess of Marlborough (1660-1744), his renowned wife and sometime favourite of Queen Anne.

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