Portrait of Sir William Monson, 4th Bt. (c. 1653-1727), three-quarter-length, before a column, a landscape beyond

Details

John Riley (London 1646-1691)
Portrait of Sir William Monson, 4th Bt. (c. 1653-1727), three-quarter-length, before a column, a landscape beyond
signed and inscribed 'Sr. Willim Monson / Bart. of Burton / in Lincolnshire / John Riley fecit' (lower right)
oil on canvas
49 7/8 x 40 ¾ in. (126.7 x 103.5 cm.)

Provenance

George Poulett, 8th Earl Poulett (1909-1973), Hinton House, Somerset; Sotheby's, London, 5 February 1969, lot 30 (£250 to Agnew's).
Sydney Mason (b. 1920), Chairman of the Hammerson Group, Dudley House, London.
with Agnew's, London, where acquired by the present owner in 1986.

Lot Essay

Celebrated in his day, John Riley was described by the aesthete Horace Walpole (1717-1797) as "one of the best native painters that has flourished in England."

The sitter was the second son of Sir John Monson of Burton, Lincolnshire (1628-1674). On 18 July 1688, he married Laetitia, daughter of John Poulett, 3rd Baron Poulett (c. 1641-1679) and succeeded his brother as 4th Bt. on 6 April 1718. In the early 1690s he was involved in lead mining enterprises in North Wales and a scheme to establish a company of London glassmakers. A convinced Whig, he represented Lincoln (1695-98), Heytesbury (1702-08), Hertford (1708-10), and Aldborough (1715-21) in the House of Commons.

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