Sir Peter Lely

James, 16^th Lord Forbes (1724-1804), Aberdeenshire,

by descent to his grandson Charles Forbes René, Comte de Montalembert (1810-1870),

by family descent to the present owner

This exquisitely drawn portrait, which Lely has signed with his famous monogram and dated 1660, has not been seen in public since at least the late eighteenth century, when it is known to have belonged to James, 16^th Lord Forbes (1725-1804), a forebear of the present owner.

Lely has placed his sitter, an unknown but beautiful young lady, close to the picture plane, a compositional device that strengthens our sense of connection with her lost world, particularly as she engages with us – after more than three centuries – with inquisitive and twinkling eyes and a faint smile. As soft light shimmers on her sumptuous dress, her large drop-pearl earrings and her curled hair, that falls around her shoulders, she rests her left hand on the lid of some kind of jar.  

As discussed in the catalogue entry for lot 121, the portrait belongs to a much admired group of drawings that Lely made as independent works of art and that Roger North described as ‘craions [sic] housed in ebony frames’.¹ Lely’s interest in creating such works connects him, directly, to the likes of Holbein, Rubens and Van Dyck, who all enjoyed working in this manner.

Drawings by major seventeenth century English artists, both in public and private collections, are extremely scarce. The presence in this auction of this portrait, Lely’s self-portrait and that of his son, John (see lots 120 and 121) is therefore a rare and extraordinary event.

^1.Editorial, ‘Sir Peter Lely’s Collection’, The Burlington Magazine, vol. 83, 1943, p. 188