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Lot Essay
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Cockenhatch, now Cokenach, is a country estate in the Parish of Barkway in Hertfordshire. Built in 1716, the house was added to in 1833 and again in 1925.
Arthur Devis' painting shows Edward Chester (1712-1767), the owner of the estate, leaning over an adjustable jump, towards the right of the picture. Next to him, leaning with his back to the jump, is his brother Peter Chester (1720-1799), Governor of Florida. Seated next to them, far right, is the Rev. William Andrew (1678-1750), who was then the vicar of the parish of Barkway. On the far left of the picture is the figure of Thomas Gorsuch, the manager of the estate. The horse and groom in the centre complete the picture.
Interestingly Edward Chester appears in an identical pose in another of Devis' conversation pieces. He can be seen with Leak Okeover and the Rev John Allen in the foreground of a large open landscape view of Okeover's country house, Okeover Hall in Staffordshire. This picture is now in the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Centre for British Art in the U.S.A.
Cockenhatch, now Cokenach, is a country estate in the Parish of Barkway in Hertfordshire. Built in 1716, the house was added to in 1833 and again in 1925.
Arthur Devis' painting shows Edward Chester (1712-1767), the owner of the estate, leaning over an adjustable jump, towards the right of the picture. Next to him, leaning with his back to the jump, is his brother Peter Chester (1720-1799), Governor of Florida. Seated next to them, far right, is the Rev. William Andrew (1678-1750), who was then the vicar of the parish of Barkway. On the far left of the picture is the figure of Thomas Gorsuch, the manager of the estate. The horse and groom in the centre complete the picture.
Interestingly Edward Chester appears in an identical pose in another of Devis' conversation pieces. He can be seen with Leak Okeover and the Rev John Allen in the foreground of a large open landscape view of Okeover's country house, Okeover Hall in Staffordshire. This picture is now in the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Centre for British Art in the U.S.A.