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Portrait Of A Lady Beside A Curtain Holding A Lemon C.1640; Circle Of Edward Bower (1597-1667)

Object description :

"Portrait Of A Lady Beside A Curtain Holding A Lemon C.1640; Circle Of Edward Bower (1597-1667)"

This striking portrait painted circa 1640, is notable for both its excellent quality and its excellent state of preservation. It is a sublime example of mid-seventeenth century English portraiture.

It depicts a lady wearing a dazzling costume with black material contrasting with crisp white lace collar and cuffs and a beautiful silk stomacher. The sitter is depicted on a porch before a classical column, with a rich brocade curtain on the side, and a view of a church amongst a landscape in the background.

The intention to portray wealth in this portrait is clear; she is wearing a fortune in jewels - diamond earrings, multiple huge black uncut diamond and gold brooches, and pearls in her necklace and hair. The lemon in her right hand was a highly exotic item and in art it symbolised longevity, purification, love, friendship, and other times bitterness and disappointment. Black was one of the most expensive colours to make and maintain and was thus reserved for the most formal occasions (including having one's portrait painted). Black was often worn and was never dull (there were at least fifty shades of black in the seventeenth century). Here, its pictorial potential is utilised to the full. Lace was very expensive and was a prized possession often listed in inventories of estates and passed down from generation to generation. The wearing of crisp and beautifully clean white textiles, was a signifier of wealth, as only individuals who need not work for a living could keep it this white.

By tradition this portrait represents Susanna Style (1549-1610), the daughter of John Bull Esq. She married Oliver Style (1542-1622) of Wateringbury, England. Oliver Style purchased Wateringbury Place and lived there until his death at the age of 80 in 1622. This Susanna was deceased by the time the portrait was painted circa 1640 – it was either posthumously painted or it represents another sitter.

The manner in which portraits were painted was set out by the terms of the commission and usually marked significant life events such as a betrothal, a death, elevation of rank, and almost always emphasised the wealth and importance of the subject. The sitter would have visited artist’s workshops, inspected examples on display, and chosen the size and the sort of composition. On that basis, negotiated a price which would also have been determined by the complexity of the clothing and the jewels that were to be depicted, and by the materials used.

The quality of the portrait is very good and there is a virtuoso treatment of the lace collar which has been very finely depicted. Apart from the beautiful image itself the work is remarkable in its state of preservation. Areas of black pigment are often the most vulnerable part of a painting, owing to the chemical composition of the paint, and are susceptible to wear – now the patterns or subtle light effects distinguishing silk from satin or soft velvet are lost. The colours in this portrait re still vivid and the patter through the black is quite visible.

The ring worn from the gold bracelet is probably a keepsake from someone close to the sitter – perhaps a deceased relative or friend - and is a touching statement. The lovelock over her left shoulder and chest was a fashionable trend.

This utterly charming splendid quality and condition English portrait is an excellent example from the period. Held in an antique cassetta style frame with arabesque detail and presentation label.

Edward Bower was an English portrait painter, thought to be from Devon, England. His main body of known works date from 1635 to 1667. During the Civil War he worked mostly for Parliamentarian patrons, and in about 1648 he made three similar portraits of Charles I at his trial (later, these portraits were often copied). He had a studio at Temple Bar in London by 1637 and was master of the Painter-Stainers’ Company in 1661. He died in 1667.

Provenance: Private UK collection

Measurements: Height 124cm, Width 105cm framed (Height 48.75”, Width 41.25” framed