Marcus Gheeraerts
Portrait of the Three Egerton Sisters, 1601-2
Oil on canvas
51 3/4 x 50 7/8 in.
Philip Mould & Co.
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com Until recently, the sitters in this important portrait were unknown, but the discovery of an auction record from 1824 led...
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com
Until recently, the sitters in this important portrait were unknown, but the discovery of an auction record from 1824 led to the identification of the three sisters as members of the Egerton family. Here, the three young girls hold hands in an unusual departure from the normally formal compositions intended to conspicuously display fashion and expensive jewellery. It is one of the earliest instances in English art of siblings portrayed in such an affectionate manner, and can be compared to Marcus Gheeraerts’ very similar portrait ‘Barbara Gamage with Six Children’ [Penshurst Place], in which the two children on the right follow an identical pose to that seen here.
Although the portrait was reputed to have come from Ham House in Surrey, the earliest record of the picture dates from 1824, when the art dealers Thomas and Horatio Rodd offered the work for sale in 1824. Fortunately, their catalogue survives and gives a detailed description of the picture;
"Egerton, Elizabeth, Vere, & Mary, Granddaughters of Lord Chancellor Egerton. Canvas, 54 inches by 54, three whole length figures at the ages of 3, 5, and 6, richly habited in green, and ornamented by jewels, hands joined and each holding a feather fan: an undoubted picture, by Marc Garrards, and in a most singular carved frame of the time; the whole in very excellent preservation, painted about 1603. Elizabeth, Vere, and Mary, daughters of Thomas Egerton (eldest son of the Lord Chancellor) by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Venables, Baron of Kinderton, in the county of Cheshire, Esq. Elizabeth married Thomas Dutton, of Dutton, in Cheshire; Vere, William Booth, son and heir of Sir George Booth, of Dunham, in the said county, Knight and Baronet; and Mary, Sir John Leigh, of Stonely, in the county of Warwick, Bart."
All of Rodd’s details are consistent with the present picture, including even the square size, then listed as being 54 x 54 inches. “Lord Chancellor Egerton” was Thomas Egerton, first Viscount Brackley (1540-1617). By his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Ravenscroft of Bretton, he had three children, of whom the eldest son was Thomas Egerton, also apparently knighted. This younger Thomas was born in c.1571 and predeceased his father. He had three daughters; Elizabeth (born c.1594), Vere (born c.1595), and Mary (born c.1598), by his wife Elizabeth Venables, whom he married in about 1593. The marriages of these daughters match Rodd's descriptions. The picture was evidently unsold, for in 1827 it was offered by the Rodds again, this time with an accurate, if perhaps fanciful, description of the present frame; “The carved frame, in excellent condition, is contemporary with the time of the painting, which was expressly finished as an additional decoration preparatory to the visit which Queen Elizabeth deigned the family, at their mansion, in 1600”.
Until recently, the sitters in this important portrait were unknown, but the discovery of an auction record from 1824 led to the identification of the three sisters as members of the Egerton family. Here, the three young girls hold hands in an unusual departure from the normally formal compositions intended to conspicuously display fashion and expensive jewellery. It is one of the earliest instances in English art of siblings portrayed in such an affectionate manner, and can be compared to Marcus Gheeraerts’ very similar portrait ‘Barbara Gamage with Six Children’ [Penshurst Place], in which the two children on the right follow an identical pose to that seen here.
Although the portrait was reputed to have come from Ham House in Surrey, the earliest record of the picture dates from 1824, when the art dealers Thomas and Horatio Rodd offered the work for sale in 1824. Fortunately, their catalogue survives and gives a detailed description of the picture;
"Egerton, Elizabeth, Vere, & Mary, Granddaughters of Lord Chancellor Egerton. Canvas, 54 inches by 54, three whole length figures at the ages of 3, 5, and 6, richly habited in green, and ornamented by jewels, hands joined and each holding a feather fan: an undoubted picture, by Marc Garrards, and in a most singular carved frame of the time; the whole in very excellent preservation, painted about 1603. Elizabeth, Vere, and Mary, daughters of Thomas Egerton (eldest son of the Lord Chancellor) by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Venables, Baron of Kinderton, in the county of Cheshire, Esq. Elizabeth married Thomas Dutton, of Dutton, in Cheshire; Vere, William Booth, son and heir of Sir George Booth, of Dunham, in the said county, Knight and Baronet; and Mary, Sir John Leigh, of Stonely, in the county of Warwick, Bart."
All of Rodd’s details are consistent with the present picture, including even the square size, then listed as being 54 x 54 inches. “Lord Chancellor Egerton” was Thomas Egerton, first Viscount Brackley (1540-1617). By his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Ravenscroft of Bretton, he had three children, of whom the eldest son was Thomas Egerton, also apparently knighted. This younger Thomas was born in c.1571 and predeceased his father. He had three daughters; Elizabeth (born c.1594), Vere (born c.1595), and Mary (born c.1598), by his wife Elizabeth Venables, whom he married in about 1593. The marriages of these daughters match Rodd's descriptions. The picture was evidently unsold, for in 1827 it was offered by the Rodds again, this time with an accurate, if perhaps fanciful, description of the present frame; “The carved frame, in excellent condition, is contemporary with the time of the painting, which was expressly finished as an additional decoration preparatory to the visit which Queen Elizabeth deigned the family, at their mansion, in 1600”.
Provenance
By repute to The Earls of Dysart;Sold in 1824 by Rodd;
Captain Evelyn Broadwood of Lyne House, Capel,
Surrey;
The Broadwood Trust, by whom sold at Sotheby's 1977;
Christopher Gibbs;
Simon Sainsbury Collection;
His sale, Christie's, London, 18th June 2008, lot 190.
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