Only the day after a specialist sale at Bonhams, the June 29 auction at Strides of Chichester included two 3 x 2in (7 x 5.5cm) watercolour-on-vellum portraits by greats of the Commonwealth/Carolean age that trumped anything seen on Bond Street.
The cataloguing may have been a little perfunctory, and the
estimates wide of the mark, but these new discoveries, that had
come to market from a private house within five miles of the
saleroom, stimulated plenty of interest and, ultimately, strong
prices.
Samuel Pepys makes many references to Samuel Cooper (1609-72) in
his diaries. He tells us the miniaturist was an excellent musician,
playing well upon the lute, a good linguist with excellent French,
a short, stout man of ruddy countenance and that he charged £30 to
paint a portrait of his wife in 1668.
Although initially catalogued only as 17th century English
School, when removed from its original brass frame a bust-length
portrait of a lady was seen to be signed with the initials SC and
dated 1653. With a long waiting list at Cromwell's 'court', Cooper
was just as brilliant working for the Commonwealth as he was for
the restored king.
The subject, painted in the year of the so-called Barebones
Parliament, wears a pearl necklace and earrings and a brown dress
with silk undergarment, her curling dark brown hair falling to the
shoulders.
It had a little surface damage but, out of the frame appeared in
much better condition. Initially pitched at £1000-1500, a figure
improved to £6000-8000 upon the eleventh hour discovery of the
signature, she ultimately fetched £32,000 - a mid-range price for
the finest miniaturist of the 17th century.
Cooper's Successor
The artist who succeeded Cooper as Charles II's 'limner in
ordinary' in 1673 was Nicholas (Nathaniel) Dixon (c.1645-1708).
Although he lacked Cooper's international reputation, it gives an
idea of Dixon's talent and ambition that he received the same
payment and benefits as his predecessor. And, as a result of the
wholesale dispersal of Dixon's stock to John Holles, Duke of
Newcastle for £430 (around £35,000 today), some 30 miniatures by
the artist remain in the collection at Welbeck Abbey.
The miniature seen at Strides, initialled ND to the
reverse, depicted a lady of the Restoration court in her pearls,
this time wearing a striking ultramarine gown with a pale blue and
lace underslip.
She was deemed the more attractive of the two subjects and there
were some similarities between the sitter and the many surviving
portraits of the king's mistress, Louise de Kerauaille, Duchess of
Portsmouth and Aubigny (1673-1734).
Prices for Dixon do not, typically, rival those of Cooper
(prices have previously peaked at £20,000 for the portrait of Sir
George Wakeman sold at Christie's in 2004 and more typically hover
below £5000), but this was such a good example that bidding reached
£28,000.
Both miniatures were purchased by a bidder in the room on behalf
of a London art dealer specialising in portraits.
The buyer's premium was 15%.
Follow us on:
