Circle of John Theodore Heins (1697-1756)

Portrait of Sir Thomas Wentworth 5th Bt. of Bretton (d.1792), three-quarter-length, in a blue coat with white facings, holding a spear, with the Chapel at Bretton Park beyond

Details

Circle of John Theodore Heins (1697-1756)
Portrait of Sir Thomas Wentworth 5th Bt. of Bretton (d.1792), three-quarter-length, in a blue coat with white facings, holding a spear, with the Chapel at Bretton Park beyond
oil on canvas
51¾ x 42 in. (131.5 x 106.7 cm.)
in a George II carved and pierced giltwood frame

Provenance

Possibly Charles, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (d. 1782) and by descent to his nephew
William, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam (d. 1833) and by descent.

Sale room notice

Please note that this portrait is of Sir William Wentworth, 4th Bt., of Bretton, rather than Sir Thomas Wentworth, 5th Bt., of Bretton, as stated in the catalogue entry, and is now attributed to Philip Mercier, (c.1689-1760). A group portrait of Sir William Wentworth together with his daughters Julia, Elizabeth and Diana and his son in law Godfrey Bosville, by Philip Mercier, signed and dated 1740, is in a private collection in England (J. Ingamells and R. Raines, A Catalogue of the Paintings Drawings and Etchings of Philip Mercier, Walpole Society, XLVI, 1976-8, no. 91). Another version of this portrait type was originally in the Collection of The Viscount Allendale at Bretton Park (A. Oswald, Bretton Park II, Yorkshire, Country Life, vol. LXXXIII, 21 May 1938, p.559, fig. 11). Sir William Wentworth was responsible for the building of Bretton Church, which is visible in the background of this portrait, in 1744.

Lot Essay

Sir Thomas Wentworth was the eldest son of Sir William Wentworth, 4th Bt., Member of Parliament for the borough of Malton, Yorkshire, and his wife, Diana, daughter of Sir William Blacket of Wallington, Northumberland. He was Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1765 and inherited substantial estates from his mother's family on the death of Sir Walter Calverley Blacket, Bt., in 1777, when he assumed the additional name of Blacket. Bretton Park, in Yorkshire, was built by his father in 1720, while the Chapel, the west front of which is shown in the background of this portrait, was built in the grounds of the main house in 1744.

Sir Thomas died in 1792 leaving the greater part of his estates in Northumberland to the family of his natural daughter, Diana, wife of Col. Thomas Richard Beaumont (1758-1829).

The sitter's head was painted on a standard three-quarters (30 by 25 in.) canvas, which was subsequently inserted in a larger canvas by the artist: many of Ramsay's larger portraits were prepared in this way.

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