The Family Collection of the late Countess Mountbatten of Burma

The Family Collection of the late Countess Mountbatten of Burma

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 108. Portrait of Bridget Astley, Lady Knatchbull (1570-1625), three-quarter length, in a black dress with a white ruff, her right arm resting on a chair with a parrot on its armrest.

Circle of Robert Peake the Elder

Portrait of Bridget Astley, Lady Knatchbull (1570-1625), three-quarter length, in a black dress with a white ruff, her right arm resting on a chair with a parrot on its armrest

Auction Closed

March 24, 08:41 PM GMT

Estimate

30,000 - 50,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Circle of Robert Peake the Elder

Portrait of Bridget Astley, Lady Knatchbull (1570-1625), three-quarter length, in a black dress with a white ruff, her right arm resting on a chair with a parrot on its armrest


later inscribed upper left: Bridget Astley / Wife of Sr Norton / Knatchbull Kt / ob. 1625

oil on canvas

107.1 x 84.5 cm.

Inventory, 1749, in the hall;
Inventory, 1849, p. 5, in the library;
Catalogue of Portraits, 1920, no. 12;
A.T. Bolton, ‘Mersham le Hatch’, Country Life, 26 March 1921, photographed in the dining room, p. 371;
H. Avray Tipping, ‘Mersham le Hatch’, Country Life, 8 August 1925, in situ, p. 218;
H. Avray Tipping, English Homes, Late Georgian, 1760-1820, London 1926, in situ, p. 131;
C. Hussey, English Country Houses, Mid Georgian, 1760-1800, London 1984, in situ, p. 102.

Bridget Astley was the daughter of John Astley of Allington Castle and Maidstone and his second wife Margaret, illegitimate daughter of Lord Thomas Grey. Thomas Grey was a significant court figure for much of the sixteenth century, greatly assisted at first by the fact that his mother’s sister Elizabeth was Anne Boleyn’s aunt. His influence in court was helped further by his first marriage to Katherine Champernowne, governess to the young Princess Elizabeth and her confidante when she came to the throne. In 1558 Astley was appointed Master of the Jewel House, and went on to serve as M.P. in nine parliaments. He owned substantial property in Kent, including Allington Castle. He also wrote the first English treatise on horsemanship.


Bridget became the second wife of Sir Norton Knatchbull (see lot 105) by August 1592 and died on 4th November 1625.