Lot 242
  • 242

English School

Estimate
5,000 - 7,000 GBP
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Description

  • English School
  • Portrait of Sir Nicholas Bacon (1509-1579), holding his rod of office and the purse of the Great Seal
  • emblazoned upper left with the sitter's coat-of-arms and inscribed: MEDIOCRIA FIRMA: / SIR NICHOLAS BACON, and upper right: 15-9. / ÆT - 68., and inscribed on frame, verso: Sir N. Bacon
  • oil on canvas

Provenance

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609-1674), at Clarendon House, London;
by descent to his son, Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon (1638-1709), at Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire;
by descent, at Cornbury, and later The Grove, Hertfordshire, to his nephew, Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Rochester and later 4th Earl of Clarendon (1672-1753);
transferred to his son, Henry Hyde, 5th Baron Hyde and Viscount Cornbury (1710-1753), in 1749, who died without issue;
by descent to his niece, Charlotte (d.1790), eldest daughter of William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex (1697-1743), who married Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1709-1786), of the second creation;
thence by descent to the present owner

Exhibited

Plymouth, City Museum and Art Gallery, Painting in the Clarendon Collection, 1954, no. 7;
Tokyo, Queen Elizabeth and Her Age, 1969;
San Francisco, The Arts of Elizabeth I, 1971;
Plymouth, City Museum and Art Gallery, on long term loan until 2010

Literature

Lady T. Lewis, Lives of the Friends and Contemporaries of Lord Chancellor Clarendon, London 1852, Vol. III, no. 9, pp. 250, 256 and 287-281;
R. Strong, Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, Text Volume, London 1969, p. 16;
R. Gibson, Catalogue of Portraits in the Collection of the Earl of Clarendon, Wallop 1977, no. 9, p. 8

Condition

STRUCTURE The canvas has been lined. PAINT SURFACE The painting appears to be in good condition. There is an old and discoloured dirty varnish overall. ULTRAVIOLET Examination under ultraviolet light reveals some minor retouching to the sitter's hat and to the cuff of the right hand, as well as some very minor retouching to a small crack in the lower left, approximately one inch long. FRAME Held in a gilded Sunderland style frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

The celebrated lawyer, Sir Nicholas Bacon entered Grays Inn in 1532, and rose to prominence as a lawyer in Henry VIII's reign, benefiting from Thomas Cromwell's patronage. On her accession to the throne in 1558, Elizabeth I made him Keeper of the Great Seal, and he became one of her most trusted advisors presiding over two conferences to decide on the fate of Mary Queen of Scots. In 1560 he bought the manor of Gorhambury where he built a substantial mansion with a fine long gallery.