- 216
* Sir Godfrey Kneller Lübeck 1646 - 1723 London
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Description
- Sir Godfrey Kneller
- Portrait of Meliora Fitch, Later Mrs. Portman
three-quarter length, seated wearing a red dress with light blue shawl, a landscape at right
signed lower left G. Kneller f./1715
- oil on canvas
Literature
R. Charlton-Jones, "Lely to Kneller 1650-1723," in The British Portrait 1660-1960, 1991, p. 112-13, reproduced plate 102.
Catalogue Note
The sitter was the daughter of William Fitch of High Hall, Dorsetshire. She married Henry Seymour Portman of Orchard Portman, near Taunton as his second wife. Henry Seymour was the son of Sir Edward Seymour (1633-1708), the royalist and speaker of the House of Commons. In 1690, Henry Seymour inherited the Portman family estates but not the Baronetcy which expired, upon the death of his cousin, Sir William Portman (1641?-1690). Consequently, he assumed the surname and arms of Portman. He died in 1728 without issue and the property devolved upon a cousin, William Berkeley.