The Family Collection of the late Countess Mountbatten of Burma
The Family Collection of the late Countess Mountbatten of Burma
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.
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.