JOSEPH PARROCEL | An equestrian portrait of Henri François de Foix de Candalle (1640-1714), in an extensive landscape, before a fortified castle, possibly Chateau de Vincennes

Quintin Craufurd (1743-1819), Paris;

His sale, Paris, Delaroche and Paillet, 20 November 1820, lot 215 (as one of a suite of 17 paintings by Parrocel);

Stephen Ram Esq. (according to a label on the reverse).

Henri François de Foix de Candalle, Duc de Randan, Marquis de Sennecey, was born in 1604 and succeeded to the title on the death of his brother, Jean Baptiste Gaston de Foix, in 1665. He served in the army at the Battle of Tournay in 1667, and was made a Chevalier of the Orders of Saint Louis and Saint Esprit in 1688. Little is known of his military career, except that he inherited a Cavalry regiment from his father in 1652. The unit served in the Franche-Courteand in Rousillon in the 1660s, but was reduced to one company during the peace of 1668-71. Reactivated in the later years, it campaigned in the Low Countries and again in the Franche-Comté until 1674 when Henri sold it to the Marquis de Biran.

This painting possibly belongs with a series in Skokloster Castle, Sweden, depicting French noblemen on horseback. It was previously owned by Quintin Craufurd - a respected British author living in Paris, who was instrumental in Marie Antoinette's escape to Varennes. He amassed an impressive library and collection of paintings, coins and other objects of antiquarian interest.