Michael Dahl

Portrait of the Hon. Thomas Coke (1674-1727) of Melbourne Hall, bust-length

Lot Closed

January 14, 04:14 PM GMT

Estimate

6,000 - 8,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Property of Lord Ralph Kerr

Michael Dahl

Stockholm circa 1659 - 1743 London

Portrait of the Hon. Thomas Coke (1674-1727) of Melbourne Hall, bust-length

oil on canvas, in a half painted oval, the top corners added

unframed: 76.2 x 63 cm.; 30 x 24 3/4 in.

framed: 95.5 x 83.4 cm.; 37 5/8 x 32 7/8 in.

The family of, or commissioned by, Sir Thomas Coke (1675-1727), and thence by descent;
Admiral Lord Walter Talbot Kerr, Melbourne Hall, by 1927;
Thence by descent.

Fox, Pictures at Melbourne Hall [ref.168-23 Melbourne Archive] 1841, possibly the work described in the Hall as, ‘no.1, Vice Chamberlain Coke’;
Anon, Inventory of Furniture and Effects at Melbourne Hall, [ref.168-13-3 Melbourne Archive] 25 March 1858, possibly the work described in the Drawing Room as, ‘no.28, Mr Thomas Coke’;
Anon, Inventory of Fixtures, Furniture, Books, Pictures, Tools, etc., [ref.168-9 Melbourne Archive] 12 July 1897, possibly the work described in the Morning Room as, ‘no.56, Sir Thomas Coke by Lely [sic]’;
W. Nisser, Michael Dahl and the Contemporary Swedish School of Painting in England, London 1927, p. 14, cat. no. 44c (dated circa 1700-20).

Thomas Coke was a courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1698 and 1715. Although a Tory on paper, he was prepared to support the Whigs in order to keep hold of his public offices. He obtained a court place as Vice-Chamberlain in the Royal Household in 1706 and held the position until his death in 1727.

When Coke came into possession of Melbourne Hall he altered and extended the house and he is credited with creating the gardens there. He was one of the original backers of the Royal Academy of Music, establishing a London opera company which commissioned numerous works from George Frideric Handel, Giovanni Bononcini and others. Coke married twice - firstly in around June 1698 to Lady Mary Stanhope, daughter of Philip Earl of Chesterfield, by whom he had two daughters; secondly on 15 October 1709 to Elizabeth Hales, daughter of Richard Hales of King's Walden, Hertfordshire, one of the Maids of Honour to Queen Anne, by whom he had a daughter and a son. He left most of the estate to his son George Lewis Coke (1715–1751).