Studio of John Riley 1646-1691

The sitter was page to Charles II's bedchamber and keeper of the private closet. In these roles he enjoyed the confidence of the King's mistresses and played a central role in the intrigues and secrets of the Court, for example, as the receiver of the secret pension paid by the Court of Louis XIV. Contemporay libels, such as 'Sir Edmonbury Godfrey's Ghost' (1678), made mention of his more nefarious practices:
'It happened, in the twilight of the day,
As England's monarch in his closet lay;
And Chiffinch stepp'd to fetch the female prey'

The sitter was also M.P. for Windsor between 1685 and 1687, and his daughter, from his marriage to Barbara Nunn, later married Edmund Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey.

The present work appears to derive from the portrait by John Riley in the Dulwich Picture Art Gallery.