The Pohl-Ströher Collection of Portrait Miniatures, Part III

The Pohl-Ströher Collection of Portrait Miniatures, Part III

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 244. BERNARD LENS, III | SELF-PORTRAIT AGED 27.

BERNARD LENS, III | SELF-PORTRAIT AGED 27

VAT reduced rateRestricted Species

Auction Closed

December 5, 07:06 PM GMT

Estimate

2,000 - 3,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

BERNARD LENS, III

London 1682 - 1740

SELF-PORTRAIT AGED 27


Watercolour and bodycolour, heightened with gold on ivory, gilt-wood frame;

signed with the artist's monogram lower left: BL, further signed and inscribed on the backing card: Bernard Lens Junj / Pictor Painted by himse [sic] / Feb: ye: 5:1708 Age 27:

78 by 56 mm.

Please note the following amendments to the printed catalogue This lot contains ivory. Due to recent changes in the laws of many countries (e.g. US, France) Sotheby's recommends that buyers check with their own government regarding any importation requirements prior to placing a bid. For example, US regulations restrict the import of elephant ivory and prohibit the import of African elephant ivory. Please note that Sotheby's will not assist buyers with CITES licence applications where a buyer elects to either collect or arrange their own shipping, nor will Sotheby's assist with the international movement of ivory by air, either as freight or through hand carry. Sotheby's shipping will only assist in shipping the lot to either domestic UK or EU destinations, where delivery is made by road transport. A buyer's inability to export or import these lots cannot justify a delay in payment or sale cancellation.

The Marquesses of Bristol, Ickworth;

Frederick, 7th Marquess of Bristol (d. 1999);

his sale, London, Sotheby's, 26 November 1992, lot 363

Farrer, 1908, p. 224, no. 128;

Goulding, 1916, p. 124, no. 148;

Long, 1929, p. 268;

Kerslake, 1977, vol. I, p. 167, vol. II, no. 462

Dated 1708 this is a remarkably early example of an artist using ivory as the ground for the portrait. Lens has shown great skill in overcoming the difficulties that artists of his generation faced when painting on this new ground. Unlike many of his commissioned portraits, that can have a doll-like quality, this self-portrait is engagingly life-like.