- 15
Cornelius Jonson 1593-1661
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Description
- Cornelius Jonson
- Portrait of Sir John Heath (1614-1691)
- signed l.l.:C.J. Fecit ~ / 1632
- oil on panel
Half length, wearing a black slashed doublet
Provenance
Edward Heath, the sitter's brother, who married a niece of Sir George Croke;
Thence by descent at Croke's House, Cottesmore, Rutland, which was bought by the Earls of Gainsborough;
By descent to Anthony Noel, 5th Earl of Gainsborough by whom sold in these rooms, 14th March 1984, lot 21, bt. by the present owner
Thence by descent at Croke's House, Cottesmore, Rutland, which was bought by the Earls of Gainsborough;
By descent to Anthony Noel, 5th Earl of Gainsborough by whom sold in these rooms, 14th March 1984, lot 21, bt. by the present owner
Catalogue Note
The sitter was the second son of Sir Robert Heath, and his wife Margaret Miller, daughter of John Miller of Tonbridge. His father was a distinguished lawyer who became Attorney General in 1625, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in 1631 and Chief Justice of the King's Bench in 1642. He was a devoted father to his children, and promoted the careers of his five sons. All five were sent to Cambridge and all but one went to practice law at the Inner Temple. In July 1626 he told his two elder sons, then at Cambridge, to 'remember that yee are the sonns of a father as is soe well known in the world that your faults will be more observed than of others.'
John Heath, the sitter in this portrait, was educated at Clare College Cambridge, and joined the Inner Temple in 1626, being called to the Bar in 1634. He built up a successful London practice worth £500 per annum, but was forced to leave London at the outbreak of the Civil War to join the Court at Oxford where, through his father's influence, he became Clerk of Assize for the Oxford Circuit and Auditor for the Court of Wards. He became King's Counsel in 1642 and after Charles I's execution was active in exile as legal advisor to Charles II, apparently spending £4,000 of his own money 'without one penny or allowance'. He returned secretly to London in 1659 on Charles II's behalf to help stir up disaffection in the fleet. His rewarded at the Restoration was his appointment as Attorney General to the Duchy of Lancaster in July 1660, a post which he held until 1688. He was also M.P. for Clitheroe in the Cavalier Parliament and was knighted in May 1664.
As his elder brother Edward had inherited substantial property through his wife, John succeeded his father in 1649 to the Brasted estate in Kent. In April 1664 he married Margaret, daughter of Sir Matthew Mennes of Sandwich and neice of Sir John Mennes, comptroller of the navy. He was survived by his daughter who married George Verney, son of Sir Richard Verney.
This superb portrait dates from when the sitter was still a young barrister. It was painted when the artist was at the height of his fame in England, having been appointed in 1632 'his Majesty's servant in the quality of Picture drawer'. It also dates from the same year as van Dyck's arrival at the Royal Court, and its lifelike three-dimensional quality shows the artist meeting the challenge of van Dyck and to some extent approaching him in quality.
John Heath, the sitter in this portrait, was educated at Clare College Cambridge, and joined the Inner Temple in 1626, being called to the Bar in 1634. He built up a successful London practice worth £500 per annum, but was forced to leave London at the outbreak of the Civil War to join the Court at Oxford where, through his father's influence, he became Clerk of Assize for the Oxford Circuit and Auditor for the Court of Wards. He became King's Counsel in 1642 and after Charles I's execution was active in exile as legal advisor to Charles II, apparently spending £4,000 of his own money 'without one penny or allowance'. He returned secretly to London in 1659 on Charles II's behalf to help stir up disaffection in the fleet. His rewarded at the Restoration was his appointment as Attorney General to the Duchy of Lancaster in July 1660, a post which he held until 1688. He was also M.P. for Clitheroe in the Cavalier Parliament and was knighted in May 1664.
As his elder brother Edward had inherited substantial property through his wife, John succeeded his father in 1649 to the Brasted estate in Kent. In April 1664 he married Margaret, daughter of Sir Matthew Mennes of Sandwich and neice of Sir John Mennes, comptroller of the navy. He was survived by his daughter who married George Verney, son of Sir Richard Verney.
This superb portrait dates from when the sitter was still a young barrister. It was painted when the artist was at the height of his fame in England, having been appointed in 1632 'his Majesty's servant in the quality of Picture drawer'. It also dates from the same year as van Dyck's arrival at the Royal Court, and its lifelike three-dimensional quality shows the artist meeting the challenge of van Dyck and to some extent approaching him in quality.