Oil Painting, 'Portrait of a Lady', Dutch School, ca. 1630 - 1635

A portrait of a woman wearing a low-cut black bodice with gold ribbon lacing and a linen falling collar with a border of lace fixed with a 'plastron.' She wears pearls about her neck and wound around her hair which is fashionably pulled flat at the top of the head but frizzed out at the sides in curls.

Bequeathed by John Jones

According to a label on the back, this work was formerly owned by Prince Rupert (1619-1682) who was born in Prague, grew up in the Netherlands and later fought in England with Charles I's army in the English Civil War. A second inscription on the label reads 'Lady Aubigne' whose identity remains unclear. The label of the pendant to this picture (496-1882) however is inscribed 'Earl of Montrose' who, in this period, was James Graham, the 5th Earl of Montrose and 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612-1650) (became Marquess of Montrose in 1644), and would be in his teens or early twenties when this was painted.

[John Jones 1800-1882]
Ref : Parkinson, Ronald, Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860. Victoria & Albert Museum, HMSO, London, 1990. p.xix-xx

John Jones (1800-1882) was first in business as a tailor and army clothier in London 1825, and opened a branch in Dublin 1840. Often visited Ireland, travelled to Europe and particularly France. He retired in 1850, but retained an interest in his firm. Lived quietly at 95 Piccadilly from 1865 to his death in January 1882. After the Marquess of Hertford and his son Sir Richard Wallace, Jones was the principal collector in Britain of French 18th century fine and decorative arts. Jones bequeathed an important collection of French 18th century furniture and porcelain to the V&A, and among the British watercolours and oil paintings he bequeathed to the V&A are subjects which reflect his interest in France.

See also South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks. The Jones Collection. With Portrait and Woodcuts. Published for the Committee of Council on Education by Chapman and Hall, Limited, 11, Henrietta Street. 1884.
Chapter I. Mr. John Jones. pp.1-7.
Chapter II. No.95, Piccadilly. pp.8-44. This gives a room-by-room guide to the contents of John Jones' house at No.95, Piccadilly.
Chapter VI. ..... Pictures,... and other things, p.138, "The pictures which are included in the Jones bequest are, with scarcely a single exception, valuable and good; and many of them excellent works of the artists. Mr. Jones was well pleased if he could collect enough pictures to ornament the walls of his rooms, and which would do no discredit to the extraordinary furniture and other things with which his house was filled."

Historical significance: Cornelius Janssen van Ceulen was a Dutch portrait painter, born to Dutch parents in London. He was active in England from around 1618 to 1643. Throughout the 1620 and 30ss Johnson produced numerous portraits of gentry, professional, and court sitters, including Charles II, James II and Mary, Princess of Orange. However, the outbreak of civil wars in 1643 prompted him to leave England. He moved to Middelburg in the Netherlands and between 1646 and 1652 lived in Amsterdam, before settling in Utrecht. Most of Jonson’s original works during his London period are portraits of people in the higher, but not the highest, social circles. The majority of these portraits are busts, simple in composition and ably reproducing the sitters’ features. Some are set in a trompe l’oeil oval, painted to imitate a stone niche such as the pendant to this portrait (496-1882) and the Portrait of an unknown man, formerly known as Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland of 1627 now in the National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG 1344). Many of these bust portraits are in English public, and particularly private, collections, for example the portrait of Sir Thomas Hanmer (1631; Cardiff, N. Mus.) and the two small pendants Portrait of a Man and Portrait of a Woman (c. 1629; London, Tate). The hand written label on the back of 496-1882 suggests that this portrait represents the 'Earl of Montrose' who, in this period, was James Graham, the 5th Earl of Montrose and 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612-1650). The Earl would have been in his teens or early twenties when this was painted. The hand-written label on this work however suggests that 'Lady Aubigne' is represented. However, no such figure has been identified and if 496-1882 does indeed represent the Earl of Montrose than this portrait more likely represents his wife, Lady Magdalene Carnegie, whom he married in 1629.

Dutch portraits developed significantly during the second half of the 17th century. Individual portraits moved from being primarily intimate works preserved within private settings into more public objects which were positioned more visibly within the domestic interior. A great majority of these were commissioned by well-to-do citizens, whether prosperous merchants and professionals, or members of the city patriciates. This work appears to have been painted as a pendant, that is, one of a pair of works of art conceived by the artist as related in format, subject-matter and composition. Pendant portraits were often commissioned of a husband and wife, usually to celebrate their nuptials.

The attribution to Cornelius Janssen, or Jonson, was retained in the 1893 Catalogue but was abandoned by Long in his Catalogue of the Jones Collection in 1923. While 497-1882 does not have the refinement or softness of Janssen’s portraits, it is executed in his manner and closely resembles a highly finished drawing, the Bust portrait of a woman by Janssen in the Courtauld collection (D.1952.RW.3540), particularly in the eyes, nose and lips of the sitter. It was described simply as ‘Dutch School’ by Kauffmann in 1973.

A portrait of a woman wearing a low-cut black bodice with gold ribbon lacing and a linen falling collar with a border of lace fixed with a 'plastron.' She wears pearls about her neck and wound around her hair which is fashionably pulled flat at the top of the head but frizzed out at the sides in curls. Cornelius Janssen van Ceulen was a Dutch portrait painter, born to Dutch parents in London. He was active in England from around 1618 to 1643. Throughout the 1620s and 30s he produced numerous portraits of gentry, professional, and court sitters, including Charles II, James II and Mary, Princess of Orange. However, the outbreak of civil wars in 1643 prompted him to leave England. He moved to Middelburg in the Netherlands and between 1646 and 1652 lived in Amsterdam, before settling in Utrecht. Most of Janssen’s original works during his London period are portraits of people in the higher, but not the highest, social circles. The majority of these portraits are busts, simple in composition and ably reproducing the sitters’ features. While 497-1882 does not have the refinement or softness of Janssen’s portraits, it is executed in his manner and closely resembles a highly finished drawing, the Bust portrait of a woman by Janssen in the Courtauld collection (D.1952.RW.3540), particularly in the eyes, nose and lips of the sitter. The hand-written label on the back of this work suggests that 'Lady Aubigne' is represented. However, no such figure has been identified. If the pendant picture (496-1882) does indeed represent the Earl of Montrose, then this portrait more likely represents his wife, Lady Magdalene Carnegie, whom he married in 1629.

497-1882