Attributed to Robert Peake

The Grey family, Enville Hall, Staffordshire;
Sir John Foley Grey Bt., by whom sold from Enville Hall, 15th June 1928, lot 14 (bt. by Savile Gallery for £1995 and acquired by the father of the present owner)

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has a strong lining and stretcher, probably about a century old, with a restoration also possibly from that time. There is a characteristically minute craquelure and fine canvas, which also has faint horizontals suggesting that it may have been rolled at some time. A single short retouched scrape or crease runs slanting inwards for about two inches from the upper left edge, and near the base to the right of the hem of the dress there is a narrow vertical line crossed by a shorter horizontal at the top, possibly an old three cornered tear. The surface has been secured perfectly by the old lining, without any distortion of the fine texture. There is a translucent mature warm varnish, and the painting appears to have had few interventions in a stable, scarcely disturbed, past life. The paint surface is beautifully rich and unworn generally, with just one or two areas in the background where the sort of accentuated craquelure sometimes found in the darks in such works seems to have caused slight wear in the past: in the dark upper left background near the edge of the curtain and to the right of the chair post also in the dark background. The area around the possible three cornered tear by the hem of the skirt on the right near the base also has a certain amount of old, largely surface retouching, with a little along the edge of the hem as well. Such remarkably little accidental damage for a large painting reflects its exceptionally good overall condition. The fine, unworn state of the flesh painting and of the delicate, intricate brocading in the skirt and elsewhere such as the red velvet of the chair and cushion and the carpet, is rare. The base edge has narrow retouching along its length. There are a few clearly visible old retouchings: a small blanched retouching by the mouth, by the edge of the cheek and the chin, a rather wider retouching along the neckline with one or two others in the chest and around her cross. Her left hand has one central retouching, and her hand at her waist has strengthening around it with some little retouchings nearby in the embroidered bodice. There are small surface retouchings occasionally in the curtain, and a few minor superficial strengthening touches down the side of the nose and perhaps to the curls of the amazingly long hair. The finesse and delicacy almost of a miniature brought to this full length portrait is finely preserved almost throughout. This report was not done under laboratory conditions.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Painted in circa 1619, this magnificent portrait portrays a young lady in a richly embroidered skirt and bodice with a fine cross around her neck.  Her hair is loose, a sign that she is not yet married.  When it appeared for sale from Enville Hall in Staffordshire in 1928 the sitter was described as 'probably Elizabeth, 1st wife of Chancellor Egerton created Lord Ellesmere.'  However, Lord Ellesmere's first wife died in 1588 so this identification cannot be supported.  Lord Ellesmere went on to marry twice more - to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William More of Loseley, who died in 1600 and to Alice Spencer who was born in 1559. Neither of these could be this sitter.

Enville Hall, where the portrait hung, was built in the 1530s by Thomas Grey whose descendant Henry Grey was knighted by Elizabeth I in 1587, and created Baron Grey of Groby in Leicestershire in 1603 on the accession of James I.  He was succeeded in the title by his grandson Henry who was created Earl of Stamford in 1628 and was active in the Civil War on the parliamentarian side.  It is possible that the sitter in this portrait is his young wife Anne, third and youngest daughter of William Cecil 2nd Earl of Exeter, whom Henry Grey married in 1620 shortly after the probable date of the picture.